


Dance of the Raven

by Kuzuriolu



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Angels, Demons, F/M, Hell, Multi, Slow Burn, Title Subject to Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-04-22 05:21:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14301669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kuzuriolu/pseuds/Kuzuriolu
Summary: Due to mysterious circumstances, Makoto Naegi finds himself trapped within the pits of Hell. There, he meets a demon who promises a way for him to escape by forming a mysterious contract with him. But what exactly does it entail, and how will the world change now that Naegi knows of the darkness that lurks beneath the surface? (Back from hiatus).





	1. The Descent

 

Makoto Naegi had never been known to have the best of luck. He was the type of person who often lost his wallet and tripped over his own shoelaces. The boy often lamented about how unlucky he was, but it wasn’t exactly something that ever caused him any major problems. Sure, having to retrace his steps and find his wallet again was inconvenient and caused a bit of anxiety, but he always managed to find it. It wasn’t as though he had ever found himself in any sort of major trouble as a result of his unfortunate luck.

Well, that’s how it always had been, at least. 

Slowly, the boy’s eyes began to open as he came to his senses. The first thing he noticed was his throbbing headache, which immediately caused him to grab for his forehead and massage his temples. Sharp pains began to trickle their way down his entire body, stabbing at every inch of him. A ball of fear and anxiety manifested itself within his chest, expanding and entrapping him. Where was he? What was he doing here? He couldn’t remember what he was doing last.

He forced his disobedient legs to stand, which shook and trembled, determined to shake him back down onto the concrete beneath. Concrete… the boy’s eyes scanned up and down the floor beneath him to find a sidewalk, freshly cleaned and free of any debris. Had he tripped and fallen again? His gaze moved upwards as he began to investigate his surroundings further. Countless buildings paved the way forward, parked cars decorating the streets. He was certainly in the middle of a city, but it wasn’t any part of town he recognized. 

As he looked further, it became quite apparent that he was completely alone. Not a single person was walking by, and not a single car was down the street.  _ That’s odd… it’s still bright out… Shouldn’t people be doing things? _

If only he could remember  _ anything _ that would hint to his current situation. Naegi closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to fight off the remains of his now fading headache. He just had to think…

Think…

* * *

 

It was a completely ordinary morning. Naegi had gotten up and lazily tossed his clothing on before making himself a quick breakfast. Later that day, he had a class he would have to attend. After graduating high school, he had found that his days seemed to be a lot emptier. He had more time to go places, more time to see people. Some people would call that sort of a life boring, but Naegi was completely content with it. He knew that he was pitifully average, that he likely would grow to obtain sort of unimpressive job and live his days working hard for his eventual family. But there was nothing wrong with it, and he had no problems. Living a boring, peaceful life wasn’t too bad. He couldn’t exactly say he was jealous.

After he had plated his cooked eggs and sat down, preparing to dig in, he received a phone call. He immediately recognized the blaring, excitable pop ringtone. Sayaka Maizono was calling him. A small smile appeared on his face as he accepted the call.

“Maizono-san, good morning!” he greeted cheerfully. He had woken up by now, and the groggy effects of slumber had worn off on his tone. 

“ _ Naegi-kun, good morning _ !” a melodic and upbeat voice answered. “ _ I hope I didn’t call too early! _ ”

“No, that’s fine! I was just about to eat breakfast,” Naegi spoke as he stirred his eggs with his fork, playing with the yolk. “It’s not like you to call so early, though. Is something happening?”

Though he was unimpressive and boring, his best friend was the complete opposite. Sayaka Maizono was a world famous idol, the star of her group. How a painfully average person like him had managed to befriend arguably the most popular idol in Japan was one of the only times Naegi could say he had ever encountered good luck in his life. The two of them had gone to the same high school, and while the boy had caught her out of the corner of his eye a few times, surrounded by bodyguards, he had never gotten the chance to talk to her. In fact, he never thought he  _ would _ be able to talk to her. 

It was one fateful miracle that changed things, one that came in the form of a crane that had found itself trapped in the school’s pool. The injured bird had cried out for help, flapping its wings around and causing a ruckus. Naegi, who had currently been the student in charge of taking care of animals, had thrown himself into the pool to assist the animal, nursing it back to health. Apparently, the idol had seen this action and had found him quite admirable. A few weeks after the incident had transpired and it had been mostly forgotten, Maizono approached him and expressed her gratitude. Since then, the two of them had always been close, even after graduation. 

“ _ You don’t know!? _ ” Maizono seemed rather surprised at his response. “ _ Tonight’s the big night! My group is putting on it’s grand performance! _ ”

_ Oh yeah! _ He had completely forgotten…! Of course! Maizono had been going on about it for quite some time, explaining to him all the preparation she had to do beforehand. She had been training for  _ months _ for today in particular! “...Oh! Right…! I’m so sorry, Maizono-san… Maybe I’m still a little tired,” he remarked, feeling a bit embarrassed. 

“ _ It’s okay! I just wanted to let you know that my manager said it was okay to invite you! I know you didn’t manage to get a ticket, but he said he would let you in! _ ” the Idol told him, quite excited by the turn of events. “ _ Oh! But you can’t get too close to me in public, all right? Other people might get the wrong idea…” _

Even though Maizono was nowhere near him, a warm blush crept up on Naegi’s cheeks. “T...That’s fine…! I’m just glad I can see you perform, Maizono-san…! I-I mean, I watched your shows on TV before, but…” He was stumbling over his words at this point, likely making a fool of himself. “This is the first time I’ll be able to see it live… w-well, in public, anyway…! E-Erm, I don’t want to anger your fans or anything…”

A loud, yet harmonious laugh came from the other side of the phone.  _ “It’s okay, silly…! I know what you meant! Anyway, it’s at six tonight! You should try to get there early since it gets super crowded. Oh, but I told the manager your name, so you can probably get backstage if you show them some identification!”  _ Naegi could here some other chattering faintly in the background, followed by Maizono’s voice again. “ _ Ah…! Okay, I have to get ready. Sorry, Naegi-kun, but I have to hang up. I’ll see you after the show, okay?” _

After the show…? Naegi’s heart nearly lept out of his chest, his mind racing. She probably just meant to talk quickly, but… no! He mustn't jump to conclusions. “...Erm… okay! I’ll look forward to it…Thank you, Maizono-san! See you then!”

“ _ Bye!” _ With that, the phone clicked and the call ended.

His heart racing, Naegi swiftly finished his breakfast. Class would begin straight on the dot at twelve, then he would be free for the rest of the day to get ready.  _ What should I do to get ready? What should I wear? ...Ah, that probably doesn’t even matter…  _ He tossed his plate into the sink to clean later and rushed back to his room. He had much to look forward to and much to get ready for. Today was sure to be exciting!

 

* * *

 

“The concert…!” Naegi exclaimed out loud. He had been on his way to the concert! Immediately after class had concluded, he had packed his things and made his way towards the venue. “What time is it!? It can’t be that late… right!?”

Placing a hand in his pocket, the boy slipped his phone out and turned it on.  _ It’s only four PM… I still have two hours to go.  _ He placed his phone back in and started to walk down the streets, not exactly sure which direction he was supposed to be going. He had a feeling he had to go forward, but it was only a gut instinct. Besides, there were more pressing questions he had to answer right now: where exactly  _ was _ everyone?

As he walked, he only became more puzzled. It was the middle of the evening, yet there was not a single person to be found. Surely there would be people bustling about at this time of day, right? He definitely wasn’t the only person in the city who was preparing for the upcoming concert, as it was the talk of the town. There had been posters hanging up everywhere, scattering the streets and trains. He would be surprised if someone  _ didn’t _ know about the concert at this point. Sensing something far more ominous, the boy stopped in his tracks and had a quick glance around. This city… it was much different. It was completely  _ clean.  _ It wasn’t as though there was an abundance of litter just scattered about back at home, but there as though there wasn’t a speck of dirt to be found. Trash cans were empty, not even lined properly with bags. Not only that, but the posters that had been plastered all over the city were just gone. There was no evidence anything was even hung up to begin with.

Naegi felt his hands tremble as they balled into fists. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. He had to find someone, anyone. In a split decision, he turned and walked into the nearest building. It was a typical chain restaurant, lit up with tacky signs and covered in pictures of additions to their menu. He had stopped here once or twice whenever he felt like he needed to grab a bite to eat and didn’t have any time to sit around and wait. Within the restaurant, he was met with a rather grim sight: emptiness. It was completely and utterly empty, with no evidence than anyone had even  _ been _ inside. 

With trembling footsteps, the boy continued further inside. Everything was completely clean, not a crumb was on the floor or the cheaply made tables. The trash cans had nothing in them, and of course, there were no employees. Hesitantly, he approached the counter. Even if no one was here… was it okay to see what was on the other side? He would technically be breaking the law if someone were to come and see him… and even if no one caught him, he would have to deal with his own guilt. After a debate of mortality, he braced himself and jumped over the counter.

On the walls were descriptions of the menu and prices, as well as plenty of photographs. It was exactly what Naegi would expect to see in a restaurant like this, but it still felt wrong. It was as though whoever made this place had a very vague idea of what a fast food restaurant would have in it, with classics like burgers and french fries. But recent menu items the chain had added in attempt to be more unique were missing. 

The best way to describe it would be it was though he was seeing a model of this particular chain from years ago. 

“...What?” Those were the only words that left his mouth… it was the only thing he could really say about the whole situation. He was completely perplexed. Something within him told him was screaming at him, telling him that this was  _ wrong _ and that he had to turn and run, but morbid curiosity pushed him forward. 

The boy began to walk into the kitchen, finding it the same as the rest: empty. He opened refrigerators, searched through cabinets, checked closets, but there was nothing. Not a scrap of food, not a piece of kitchen equipment, nothing.

Taking a deep breath, Naegi tried to remain calm, but his entire body was shaking. Anxiety was eating away at him, ripping through any other rational thought and causing his heart to beat faster than it had ever gone before. His entire body felt like it was screaming at him…  _ get out, get out, get OUT _ !!!

And so he did. He bolted out, nearly tripping over himself as he rushed for the exit. He shoved the door open and immediately kicked it closed, grabbing his chest as he caught his breath. He felt as though he was about to collapse at any moment, his panicked body unable to withstand the amount of anxiety he was going through anymore… and eventually, it did. His knees gave way and he slumped onto the ground with a thud, his head hanging, his eyes widened with fear. 

“W...where am I? How did I get here…?”

He hadn’t been expecting any sort of answer to his rhetorical question.

“Are you lost?” a voice echoed out. 

Naegi’s head immediately jolted up and he found himself staring face to face with a man. He was wearing a cleanly washed business suit and tie and had his dark hair combed back professionally. There was nothing remarkable about the man, appearing to simply be just a normal businessman that one could find anywhere. But to Naegi, seeing this ordinary man was a tide wave of relief. 

“Yes!” Naegi answered right away. His breathes were still labored from sprinting, and his words came out like a waterfall. “I don’t know where I am…! I just woke up here and I can’t find anyone! The whole place is completely empty! I don’t even know how I got here or anything…!”

The man did not seem fazed by the boy’s barrage of questions. He stood completely still, blinking a bit, but did not react until Naegi had to stop and catch his breath. 

“Calm down. I am in the same situation as you,” the man informed him. He was completely composed. “Do you know where you were before you got here?”

Hearing that the man was in the same boat as him calmed Naegi down quite a bit. At least he wasn’t the only one here, lost and confused and left to fend for himself. “Um… I don’t really know. I was on the way to a concert, but I don’t remember blacking out or anything…” Naegi scratched his head as he searched his memories.

“...Think harder,” the man instructed him. “Which way did you go to the concert? What sort of buildings did you pass by? Did you see anything strange…?”

Anything strange… Anything strange… Naegi’s eyes closed as he continued to dig back through his memory. Surely there was something that stood out…

 

* * *

 

The venue was about a thirty minute walk away. Naegi had considered taking the train, but decided the hassle wasn’t worth it. It would probably be packed around this time, anyway. He had decided to dress completely casual, wearing his usual jacket and hoodie and only bringing his phone and wallet with him. He wasn’t really intending to indulge much in the festivities, he was more interested in seeing Maizono on stage. Listening to her music and watching her performances on TV was already so enhancing, he couldn’t imagine what it would be like in real life. 

Naegi found himself walking through a park, cutting through most of the hassle on the busy streets. This was a longer route, but it was more peaceful, and gave him more time to think things over. He wasn’t even sure if he was ready for this. He wasn’t even going on stage or anything, but he was so nervous! His whole body was tense as he pictured the performance in his mind. Maizono’s heavenly voice, her graceful movements, the cheer of the crowd… maybe she would even see him in the audience and give him a wave or a wink…

What was he thinking…! He was acting like some creepy fanboy. Naegi shook his head, his face flustered just from his own imagination. Maizono was a good friend of his, and she was an idol  _ way  _ out of his league! He should be lucky that he even had the chance to speak with her. Besides, if the two of them were really going out, he would be basically murdered by her diehard fans. The boy mumbled something to himself and shoved his hands into his pockets, walking briskly down the park and staring at the ground. He lost himself in his thoughts, feeling as though he was going to die from embarrassment for even daring to think of such a thing. 

Naegi was only torn out of his thoughts when his body suddenly slammed into something, nearly knocking him over as he was forced back into reality. “Ah…! I’m sorry!” he shouted as he stumbled, attempting to maintain his footing. Luckily, he managed to do so, avoiding unnecessary injury. When he regained his composure, he glanced up at the figure he had collided into.

It was a middle aged man dressed in a clean business suit and tie, hair combed neatly backwards. It seemed that he had put quite some time into getting himself dressed that morning, Naegi thought. He wasn’t exactly an expert on clothing, but something gave off the impression that the suit was quite expensive. The man stared down at him with unblinking eyes, causing Naegi to shrink back a bit. His stare was cold yet inquisitive, clearly analyzing the boy with intensity. 

“...Erm…” Naegi wasn’t really sure what to say. Usually, he would just say sorry and move on when the stranger accepted his apology, but something about this man didn’t feel right. He didn’t like how his gaze was studying him, as if it was prying into his thoughts. Should he just walk away…?

Before he had the chance to react further, the man spoke. “Makoto Naegi, correct…?” he asked, his voice stern.

At that point, a chill ran it’s way down Naegi’s spine and seemed to cause him to freeze in place. “...Um…” He… didn’t  _ think _ he knew this man. Besides his parents and his professors, there weren’t many older adults he was acquainted with. “That’s me… have we met before?”

“I was told to come find you,” the man replied, not bothering to answer the question. “Come with me.”

In the back of Naegi’s head, an alarm was going off. This was definitely not someone he knew, and if Maizono had said something about hiring someone to take him to the event, then he had completely missed it. Going with this strange man would certainly lead into trouble. “Ah… I think you have the wrong name. I wasn’t told to meet anyone, so… See you…?” he replied sheepishly. He knew it was quite rude and uncharacteristic of him, but he couldn’t allow the conversation to continue any longer.

He immediately backed off and moved to walk past the man, but as he did so, he felt a hand grab onto his arm and squeeze it so roughly he felt like his bone would break. The death grip was digging into his skin, the man’s nails drawing blood which slid down in droplets to the ground. Naegi grit his teeth together and winced in an attempt to dull the sharp pain, but it wasn’t sufficient. He could still feel his warm blood rolling down, and that was more than enough to cause him to panic. His body reacted without him commanding it to do so, causing him to flail his arm about and try to pull himself away from the man’s grip. But as he struggled, the man’s fingernails dug further and further into his skin, causing Naegi to let out a cry of pain. The mysterious man’s nails seemed so sharp and long, far more so than anyone else Naegi had ever seen before…

No… they weren’t nails. They couldn’t be… they were far too long, far too curved, far too sharp to be regular human nails. They were  _ claws. _

“Fighting back will make both of our lives more difficult, Makoto Naegi-san,” the man informed him, cool and collected despite the struggle. “Don’t cause a scene, or I will be forced to take more dramatic measures. Come quietly.”

“B-But where are you taking me!?” Naegi shouted out. He was sure that everyone in the entire park could probably hear him at this point, even though no one seemed to be around the immediate area. “I don’t know who you are or what you want…!” His cries were loud and desperate, and he hoped to god someone would hear him and intervene.

“Your contract is up. Your payment will be collected now.” Those words caused Naegi’s eyes to widen and his entire being to shudder. 

What contract… what payment?!” Naegi had no idea what was going on! With adrenaline pumping through his body, the boy tensed himself up and ripped himself away from the mysterious man, the claws tearing out a good chunk of his flesh. He screamed in pain, the cool air feeling like it was stinging the fresh wound. But now was no time to sit there and complain about it… he had to run  _ NOW! _ Naegi sprinted faster than he knew he was even capable of, his eyes trained on the distance. He was so focused on escaping, the fresh wound was all but forgotten. The soles of his shoes clacked against the rock paved paths as he dashed, kicking up some dirt. He nearly lost his footing once or twice, but managed to escape the park without tripping.

Once the park vanished from sight, he turned a corner and pushed himself back up against an alleyway building, panting heavily. A few people had been staring as he made his mad dash down the sidewalk, but it was fine. Naegi held up his arm and nearly wanted to throw up when he saw the missing flesh from his arm, blood seeping out and piling onto the floor. He hadn’t lost  _ too _ much blood, but he was still getting dizzy. He needed to rest. Sensing the man was far away now, he slid down until he plopped down on the floor, sighing and closing his eyes. Just what was that!? Never in his life had he experienced something like that. That man had claws, and he spoke of some contract he had supposedly made… but there was nothing that Naegi could remember that even resembled a contract. And what was this about payment?

“...I probably need to get this looked at,” he muttered to himself. “Sorry, Maizono-san… I don’t think I’ll be able to make it, after all…”

It was a disappointment to him, and surely one to Maizono as well. He had been looking forward to seeing his friend and idol on stage in person. Now, it was looking more like he would be spending the rest of his day in the hospital. What would he even say to the doctors? Surely they wouldn’t believe him if he said a man with claws had attacked him…

Without warning, Naegi felt something searing hot and heavy slam into him, eliciting a scream. He fell onto his side and hugged himself with his arms, eyes shooting open. A burning red chain was snaking its way around his body, wrapping and coiling itself around him and binding him tightly. He tried not to cry as the chain started to burn into his flesh, scalding him deeply and causing bursts of white hot pain to charge through his body. In front of him was the same man from before, grinning and holding the chain in his hand, tugging on it and tightening it further. 

“I already said there was no way of running from your contract. You’re coming with me, Makoto Naegi-san.”

Naegi wanted to scream more, both at the pain and from fear, but found that he suddenly couldn’t. He had gone completely silent, and his mouth wouldn’t open. In fact, he found that it had become impossible to move his body, as if every part of him had suddenly become stone. Try as he might, nothing would budge. The man muttered something under his breath as a bright, blinding light overtook Naegi, engulfing him…

...And then nothing.

 

* * *

 

“...Ah...ahh….. _ **AHHHHHHHHHHH**_ …..!”

A scream echoed throughout the city as the memories flooded Naegi’s brain. He gripped his hair tightly and tugged on it, bending down and staring at the ground with his widened eyes. What was that… just what was….

“Do you understand now, Makoto Naegi-san?” the man he had been talking to spoke. He now recognized that voice… 

It was the same man as before.

As Naegi looked up, tears threatening to spill over, his mouth gaped in shock. The man was engulfed in a dark aura, his eyes glowing a crimson red. Claws sprouted from his hands and horns from his head, grinning with rows of fangs.

“You’re in Hell.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back.
> 
> ...Where have I been the last few months? Hating myself, trying to write but getting depressed every time I tried to do it. Nothing I was writing was making me happy or clicking with me. I criticize myself so heavily that I'm barely able to type a paragraph anymore without wondering if I'm good enough. 
> 
> But I wanted to try again. I know I had other fics in progress... but I'm ashamed of them. I am unable to like my own work or the quality of my previous works. Given changes with DR3 and DRV3, it's gotten hard to continue those fanfictions with the new revelations. So I'd figure I would start again. Maybe I'll get back to them another day.
> 
> As for updates... I'm not sure when you should expect them. I have a job now but I'm out of school, so I'll be on and off. But I truly want to be able to write again without hating myself, so this is my attempt at continuing. I hope you understand.


	2. A Fateful Encounter

_ This can’t be real… _

Those words echoed in Naegi’s mind over and over again as he watched the man in front of him transform. Large, fleshy yet thin wings began to sprout from his shoulder blades, growing and expanding. On each wing was a giant, extremely unsettling eye, staring at Naegi unblinkingly. Various patterns decorated the wings alongside the eye, reminding the boy of some sort of insect… perhaps a moth or a butterfly.

“...Hell,” Naegi repeated, confused out of his mind. This was Hell? “But wait! Why am I here? I don’t think I did anything wrong--!”

He didn’t exactly have time to finish his sentence. Before he could say anything further, the man lunged at him, his claws extended. Without a second thought, Naegi ducked and rolled over to the side, sending the man crashing into a wall. Naegi stumbled to his feet and ran as fast as his already exhausted body would allow him to. He obviously had no idea  _ where  _ he was going, but anywhere far, far away from this man was fine. 

As he ran, he took note of the features this place had. There was no end to the amount of buildings there were, and as he ran further and further, he noticed that the buildings seemed to repeat themselves. It was though someone had simply taken a small portion of a city and pasted it over and over again. The boy noticed that his legs were shaking and that his heart was pounding non stop in his chest, his whole body threatening to give out on him. Finally, he gave into his body’s protests and turned into an open building, immediately collapsing on the floor. He hadn’t noticed how much he was sweating until just now. 

_ What… what was that thing... ? There’s no way that man was human… _

Naegi gulped as he recalled the strange scene that had taken place before him mere minutes ago. That man had suddenly turned into a beast, growing claws and wings in front of his very eyes. “...If this is really Hell… was that man a demon…?” he spoke to himself.

It was the only logical conclusion. A creature as terrifying as that, with the ability to disguise himself as a normal human… it sounded much like a demon. Suddenly, he wished he had done some more research into paranormal entities, but he had never exactly believed in anything like spirits. To him, those sorts of worlds were just a far off dream. Occasionally, he would indulge himself in a fantasy book or movie, should they be popular, but it wasn’t as though he ever considered himself a huge fan of the genre. “Still… I didn’t think Hell would look like this…” he muttered to himself. In his mind, he had pictured Hell as an endless, raging inferno that consumed all that stepped into it, burning and scathing the souls of murders and other horrid criminals for all eternity. This was just some abandoned city, and he wasn’t exactly a criminal. He couldn’t think of anything he had done that would land him in such a place, since the one time he pirated a livestream of Maizono’s concert probably wasn’t enough to condemn him. 

What was it the demon had told him again…?

_ “Your contract is up. Your payment will be collected now.” _

Contract… payment. Naegi couldn’t exactly remember ever making a contract with someone other than his landlord, but he had definitely paid his rent on time. Not to mention that his landlord  _ probably  _ wasn’t a demon. 

Either way, Naegi was certain that he wasn’t supposed to be here. There had to be someone he could talk to about this mistake. Was there a king of Hell that would listen to him? The demon he had just been with didn’t seem like the type who wanted to reason with him at all, he just was interested in attacking him. 

Still, if this really was Hell… there had to be other people here, right? He couldn’t be the only person who was trapped here. It wasn’t as though he wanted to rely on the sorts of people who went to Hell… but maybe there was someone else here who had been trapped here by mistake. Naegi took a little longer to catch his breath and then stood up, giving a quick glance around. It seemed the building he had ended up in was some sort of office building. The first floor was completely clean, much like the other buildings, with a reflective tile flooring. There was a lounge area with a few black leather couches as well as a glass coffee table, but it seemed nothing really of note was there. The lobby also had a reception area, which once again didn’t have anyone attending it.

What interested the boy was the elevator. Perhaps there was more on other floors? He walked over to it and pressed the button to call it, but found that it did absolutely nothing. He tried a few more times to no avail, deciding that it was in fact broken. Was there a stairway he could use instead?

It wasn’t that hard to find the staircase. In fact, it was right next to the elevator. He pushed the door open and was greeted with two sets of stairs: one going up and one going down. He debated which to take for a brief moment, before deciding that going up seemed a bit safer.

After climbing up a small flight of stairs, he opened the door to the second floor to find what looked like a rather stereotypical office. There was a reception area and a huge cluster of desks, which were completely empty. There were a few pieces of artwork hanging around, most of which was just typical pictures of flowers and other environments that weren’t of any particular interest. A quick walk around revealed that desks were really the only thing in thing in the room. There was a smaller room that was likely a break room that had an empty vending machine, but that was it. Deciding that nothing in here would help him, he left and went up to the third floor.

Much to his dismay, he found that the third floor was exactly the same as the second. Not only that, but so was the fourth, the fifth, the sixth… How many floors were there, exactly? After the eighth floor, Naegi decided the layout was probably much like the city itself: repeated over and over again. It was like some sort of terrible video game where the developer had given up halfway through. Were all the buildings going to be exactly like this? Just empty, with rooms repeated over and over again? Giving up, he went back down the stairs. 

_ Maybe the basement is different…  _ It was a long shot, but it was worth a try. Besides, it wasn’t like many office buildings had offices in the basement… right? Hesitantly, he began to walk down the stairs. This might just end up being another waste of time, but it wasn’t as though he had anything better to do other than look around. Maybe there wasn’t an exit, and he would end up stuck here forever, but he couldn’t think like that. After all, he was known for being a bit more optimistic than most. He had to try!

After reaching the bottom of the stairs, a door awaited him. He pushed it open, expecting to see the same thing as before…

...But immediately, the smell of something absolutely rotten filled his nose. His eyes went wide as he nearly fell over. The scent of torn up, decaying flesh was overpowering the entire room. Slowly, he looked down and was immediately greeted with the sight of mangled corpses scattered all over the ground amongst a seemingly endless puddle of sticky, fresh blood. He covered his mouth as he gagged, the putrid scent and revolting sight making him sick to his stomach. He couldn’t count the number of dead bodies that lay before him, they seemed to go on forever and cover every inch of the basement floor. 

_ What… who would do such a thing!? _ Those were his first thoughts before he recalled where he was: Hell. This was not an unusual sight compared to the peace and emptiness he had seen before. Maybe a demon had gotten to them…? He began to back up, trying hard not to glance at the violent sight before him, but it was hard to look away. 

As he tried to leave, he felt a cold hand suddenly grab his ankle, jerking him back as he let out a horrified scream. A rush of adrenaline kicked him and he started to wave his leg around violently, trying to free himself of the death grip. 

“Don’t bother trying to escape, kid…” a voice breathed out faintly. As he looked down, he noticed a horribly disfigured corpse was  _ speaking  _ to him, the same one that now had its hand on his ankle. It looked like its flesh was rotting off of it, peeling off in shreds. All of its bones looked broken, sticking out at strange angles and some even poking out of its flesh. “There’s no way out of Hell…”

It was now he noticed that the corpses were not in fact corpses, but still alive. The dead looking man before him was still alive, breathing faintly. Of course… this was the afterlife, it made no sense that you could die after already being dead. Souls were here to be tortured forever, with no relief of death. 

“The demons will get you eventually… and the pain will never stop… grrrgh... “ the poor soul was groaning over and over again in pain, struggling to breath. “I wish I would just die… please let me die… oh god…”

Naegi could do nothing but stare wide eyed in absolute horror. Was this the fate of all of those who ended up in Hell? He shook his foot over and over again, feeling sorry for the man but wanting to run away as far as he can. He didn’t want to look at this anymore…! Finally, he managed to kick the hand off of him, causing the soul to scream out in pain as a visible  _ crunch _ cracked through the air. His fingers bent backwards and nearly fell off, barely being held onto by broken bone. 

“I’m sorry…!” he shouted out loud to all the corpses before fleeing the room, hurrying back up the stairs. He didn’t know why he was apologizing, he just felt like he was somehow responsible for not being able to save them. But what could he have done…?

He stumbled back into the lobby, gripping his chest. No matter where he went here, there was nothing but horrible, horrible things. Demons, souls being tortured before his eyes…  and not a sign of anyone else like him. 

A place like this… was truly full of despair.

Yet, Naegi knew he couldn’t let it get to him. There had to be something, anything that would lead him elsewhere. He had to have hope, even in a situation so full of despair like this. He was pretty sure he wasn’t even supposed to be here! Even if he couldn’t immediately find a way out… finding a clue about his situation or this supposed contract would be a good first step. But where would he even begin to look?

Without any idea of what to do, he simply began to wander around the streets once more, passing by the familiar buildings over and over again. Maybe if he kept going, if he kept walking… a sign would appear.

...And eventually… it did.

After what seemed like hours of endlessly walking down the same road, he finally spotted something lying there in the road. From a distance, it looked like a mere shadow, but as Naegi approached, he could tell it was definitely an object. A jolt of excitement washed through him as his pace quickened into a jog. 

He came to a halt when he was close enough to make out what exactly it was. In front of him lay an all black bird, wings splayed out on the street, one clearly broken as it was twisted very awkwardly. “A raven…?” he spoke out loud, crouching down onto his knees so he could get a closer look. For a raven, it was quite large, perhaps the size of a large hawk rather than a pigeon. Seeing it lying there, motionless, gave Naegi the impression that it was dead.

He gulped as he recalled the living corpses he had recently encountered. Though they would certainly be dead outside of Hell, they had still been alive. Perhaps it was impossible to truly die here. Hesitantly, he reached his hand out and placed it on the raven, feeling it’s body moving up and down slightly with laboured breaths. 

What should he do? This was the first time he was encountering an animal down here, and it was the first sign of real life he had found. He bit his lip as he thought over his options. His mind wandered backwards, to that fateful day when the injured crane had landed in the school’s pool, screeching and waving its wings around helplessly. Though it had been difficult, he had managed to nurse the creature back to health… and because of that, he had met Maizono. That crane had been a sign of good luck, hadn’t it? Taking care of a raven shouldn’t be much different. He took a deep breath and lifted the creature up off of the road, standing as he did so. Normally, touching a nearly dead bird would probably be a bad idea, but he didn't really care. Circumstances were different here in Hell. He unzipped his hoodie ever so slightly and slipped the bird under it, save for its head which he left to rest against the top of his chest. He could still feel it breathing, but it wasn’t reacting. 

“Don’t worry… I’ll help you,” he told it.

With the bird in his jacket, he went back over towards the sidewalk and into the nearest building: an empty hotel. He plopped himself down on one of the couches and held the raven to his chest. He hoped he wasn’t hurting it too much. “I’m sorry, I need to take a look at you, okay?” He wasn’t really sure why he was talking to the bird. It wasn’t as though it could understand. He slid the raven out and placed it gently onto the couch, inspecting it carefully. Aside from the broken wing, there didn’t seem to be any other external injuries. He lightly tapped the wing, eliciting a startled cry from the bird. 

“I’m sorry…!” Naegi shouted immediately. “I just have to take a look! I promise I’m not trying to hurt you, so…” He trailed off as he once again realized he was talking to a bird. He shook his head, wondering why he was acting so silly.

Perhaps it was his imagination, but the raven seemed to relax a bit upon hearing the boy speak. It didn’t cry out when Naegi lifted up its wing, looking at it from a variety of angles. After deducing where exactly the wing broke, he shoved his hand into his hoodie pocket and pulled out a band-aid. He usually kept them on hand, since he was an unfortunate victim of frequently tripping. Unfortunately, this was all he had on hand right now, and it wasn’t likely that there would be any sort of bandages amongst the empty shelves in Hell. He gently placed the bandaid onto the bird’s wing, frowning. “I know this isn’t going to help at all… but it’s all I have. Just try not to flap it too much, all right? It doesn’t look like you’re hurt aside from that…” Obviously, the raven didn’t understand him, but it definitely  _ felt  _ like it did...it looked up at Naegi and tilted its head. “Just be careful. A-Anyway, I can’t do anything else for you right now, so…”

Naegi stood up and shoved his hands into his pockets, smiling bashfully. He wasn't exactly sure what to do now. Should he just leave the bird here? What if a demon came and got to it? He didn’t want that to happen, though he wasn’t really sure why a demon would bother attacking a bird in the first place. Still, it was strange that there was a bird here. Why would a bird have to go to Hell?

As he turned and began to leave, the crane once again flashed through his mind. He remembered the day he had let it go, watching it fly off into the distance. He remembered smiling, feeling satisfied and glad that he had managed to help the creature. If it weren’t for him, it surely would have died. He hadn’t left that bird on its own, so why should he leave the raven here?

The day that Maizono had approached him, she had said something to him, something intended simply as a joke.

_ “I’m that crane, you see. I’ve come to return the favor… ehehehe! Just kidding…!” _

He wasn’t sure why that had stuck in his mind. After all, it was nothing but a joke, meant to be forgotten. He stopped in his tracks, looking over his shoulder at the raven resting on the couch. It was obviously still breathing, but something made him want to check. 

“...Just as I thought. I really can’t leave you there…” Naegi spoke, a small smile on his face as he walked back over towards the bird. 

The raven lifted its head up and looked at him straight in the eye, almost as if it was trying to look into his soul. Was it trying to say something? He didn’t know. Naegi reached his hands out towards the raven and lifted it up, sliding it back into his hoodie. “I hope you don’t mind this… I don’t have any other way to carry you right now, so just rest, okay? Don’t move your wing too much…”

As expected, the raven didn’t react much. It merely rested its head against his chest and stared off into the distance. Naegi wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to do with it, but… at least for now, he had a friend with him while he looked for an exit.

Perhaps, like the crane, the raven would be a sign of luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking a bit to update. It'll probably be about this amount of time between chapters, as I also have work and various other things I want to do with my time. 
> 
> I don't really know what to put here other than I hope you're enjoying and thank you for reading thus far.


	3. Feathers

Despite gaining a new companion, Naegi was still absolutely lost. Investigating all the buildings led to absolutely nothing, not even a sign of an exit. Every single building was completely empty and provided no clues. Hours must have passed by, but there was no way to check. The time on his phone was stuck on four pm, the same time he had arrived. He was completely exhausted, and quite frankly bored of checking every single nook and cranny in each building. 

He once again found himself in the hotel building, albeit a different one. Of course, it looked exactly the same as the last, but it was a few cycles further down. He collapsed onto the couch, lying back and closing his eyes. “I feel like I’m about to fall asleep,” he muttered to himself with a sigh, holding the raven close to him as though it was a stuffed animal. It shifted a bit uncomfortably, prompting him to loosen his grip. The whole time, it had been completely still and quiet, occasionally popping its head out to look at its surroundings. He had almost forgotten it was even there in the first place.

“Maybe the two of us should rest for a bit…” He chided himself for talking to the raven again, but perhaps he was feeling lonely from the desolate environment. He considered himself quite a sociable person, after all, and being so alone was unnatural for him. “Do we even need to eat and sleep in Hell? I don’t think I’m feeling hungry…”

He placed his other hand on his stomach and frowned. In fact, he didn’t have an appetite at all. Was this because Hell was technically the afterlife? “...Wait… am I dead?”

It was the first time that he had even thought of it. He had been so focused on escaping that the implications hadn’t even crossed his mind. The last thing he remembered was the demon’s chains wrapped around him, paralyzing him completely. Then everything had gone completely black. Had the demon actually  _ killed  _ him when he was passed out?

“But I don’t feel dead…” he muttered. Wasn’t death supposed to hurt? He forcibly recalled the living corpses he had encountered in the basement and gagged. Would that be him…? His hand went from his stomach to his mouth, his eyes wide as he tried to force himself to swallow. Who even did that to them? Was it that demon he had encountered before? It wasn’t as though he had encountered any other demons here… How strange. Shouldn’t this place have a lot more demons? Who knew how many people were sent to Hell a day since the beginning of time itself. 

The boy rolled onto his side and let out another sigh. All these inconsistencies were hurting his head, and he didn’t have anyone to ask about it. 

“Still… I wonder what a bird like you is doing in Hell,” Naegi muttered. Though he hadn’t been aware of it himself, he had been stroking the raven’s head gently with his index finger. He immediately stopped as soon as he noticed, drawing his hand back. The creature didn’t seem too bothered by his actions, but he still felt badly. “Animals aren’t supposed to go to Hell, right…? Maybe you’re here by mistake like me…”

Perhaps it was out of sheer loneliness, but he soon found himself rambling. “I don’t really know why I’m here, to tell you the truth. I was on the way to a concert. The demon who brought me here… um, at least I  _ think _ he’s a demon? He told me something about a contract expiring and my payment, but I don’t remember ever signing a contract, especially not one that could get me sent to Hell.” He looked down at the raven as he spoke, almost as if he expected it to react. “...Anyway, I just found myself here. I wonder if the same thing happened to you? I can’t really think of anything a bird could do wrong… um.” Ravens were supposed to be scavengers, right? They usually showed up where death had occurred, but they weren’t exactly murderers. “There’s no way you killed someone, right? You’re an animal anyway, so…”

The raven merely stared at him as he spoke, its eyes not leaving his once. Was it listening to him? 

“Anyway… I don’t really know what to do now. I really want to get back home. There has to be  _ some  _ way of leaving, right? I mean… that demon was in the real world and then came down here. So there’s got to be an exit and entrance somewhere.” He frowned, wishing he could recall what had happened after being binded by the chains. “Oh, and of course, if I find an exit, I’ll let you leave with me!” he exclaimed, a small smile on his face. He didn’t see a reason why not, after all. “There’s no reason a bird should be in Hell. It must be really lonely down here without any of your friends… so I’ll set you free!”

“Oh? Is that what you think?” a calm, cold voice answered. 

Naegi’s body froze completely, his jaw hanging open. He turned his head towards the entrance way and saw the demon in the suit standing there, his horrifying wings still unfolded. This time, however, countless eyes were decorating them, staring directly at the boy with a stare so intensive he felt like he would melt on the spot. The two horns upon his head spiraled over his head, almost like a pair of antenna. Two beady, bulging black eyes replaced his former ones on his face, alongside a toothy grin. 

“This is Hell. No one is allowed to escape from here. After all, you’re here for a reason…” the man spoke as he stepped forward, his dress shoes clacking on the tiled floor. “You will be punished here for all eternity for your sins.”

“But I didn’t do anything…!” Naegi shouted at the top of his lungs, somehow finding his voice from his petrified body. “There’s some sort of mistake! I never made any sort of a contract!”

The demon tilted his head to the side at an almost unnatural angle. It looked as though his head would just snap right off from his skinny neck. “Oh? But I was told to find a man by the name of Makoto Naegi. Or are you claiming not to be Makoto Naegi?” he questioned.

“N...No, that’s my name, but… maybe someone else used my name in a contract? I never signed anything…” Naegi was frantically trying to find some explanation as he got off the couch, backing away subtly in hopes that the demon wouldn’t notice. “Really, you have the wrong person…!” He clutched the raven to his chest as he backed up, not wanting the poor creature to get hurt either. 

Unfortunately, the demon just scoffed at his attempts to reason with him and began to take steps forward, eyeing the boy’s hoodie. “Oh? What’s that you have with you?” he asked, his footsteps rapidly picking up pace. “No one else is supposed to be in this realm right now…”

What did that even mean? Naegi had no time to ponder it as he backed up into a wall, gasping as he felt his back collide with the hard surface. He gulped, seeing nowhere else to escape. The demon was much faster than him, and within no time at all, he had closed the gap between them. He looked down and reached a deformed, clawed finger out and poked the raven. 

And then there was a screech.

Within a split second, the raven had bit the demon, its beak clenched tightly around the finger. The demon waved his hand around in an attempt to dislodge himself from the creature’s beak, which only caused it to clamp down further.

“LET GO OF ME, YOU DAMN BIRD!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, frantically pulling his hand back. 

Almost obediently, the raven released itself from the demon, causing him to jerk back and stumble a bit. He raised his hand up and stared at his mangled finger, flesh shredded and torn to bits and caked with leaking blood. The raven’s beak was still partially opened, fresh blood dripping from its fangs...

...Birds didn’t have teeth. And that raven certainly did not until a few seconds ago.

The raven began to struggle in Naegi’s hoodie, causing him to gasp out. “No, wait!” he shouted. “You can’t do that! Your wing is still broken! Please, just stay still!” Unfortunately for him, the bird was far more powerful than he had anticipated. It easy managed to pull its way out of Naegi’s hoodie and dart into the air. It lingered in front of him, its wings flapping back and forth without issue. Stunned into silence, Naegi simply stood there. It was then that he noticed that the raven had more eyes than he last remembered. Another pair of eyes rested almost diagonally behind its first one, though smaller. 

“You…” the demon spat out. “You can’t do this! You traitor…! Don’t you know your role?”

All was silent for a moment. Naegi was left to bathe in his confusion, trying to make sense of what was going on. 

Then, the raven dashed. It soared through the air and slashed at the demon’s face with its talons as it went directly over him, eliciting a pained screech. The demon grabbed his slashed face with his hands and flailed about. “I can’t see, damnit…!” he swore, his wings flapping back and forth. 

Naegi’s eyes, however, were focused elsewhere. The raven, now behind the demon, waved one of its wings. Suddenly, a storm of black feathers erupted from it, encasing the raven within a flurry of darkness. A strong gust filled the room, causing Naegi to lift his arms in front of his face and shut his eyes tightly, grimacing. He felt like he was about to be swept off of his feet, which were now wobbling like jelly. He remained like that until the winds ceased. He lowered his arms and poked a single eye open… 

...And gasped.

Where the raven stood was now a young woman, perhaps his age. She had pale purple hair flowing to her waist, blowing ever so slightly in the remains of the storm. She was adorning what appeared to be a cape of black feathers, which upon further inspection were a pair of wings cleverly disguised to look like a part of her outfit. She was wearing a long, dark purple robe adjourned with strange, runic designs on the inside that Naegi couldn’t exactly make sense of. 

“I wasn’t told to do anything in particular, so I don’t think it’s exactly fair to label me as a traitor,” she remarked, turning to face Naegi and the demon.

Her eyes were a light shade of purple, much like her hair. Now that he could see her a bit clearer, he noticed that her hands and feet were talons, rather than regular limbs. Her upper arms were coated with a layer of black feathers. A small bird skull was tied to the neck of her robe, threaded through the eye sockets by a rope. But aside from that, her outfit seemed quite regular: a purple leather jacket and matching skirt. It almost looked like some sort of school uniform.

Naegi opened his mouth to say something to her, but no words came out. He was completely stunned. 

Once again, the words Maizono had said flashed back into his mind….

_ “I’m that crane, you see. I’ve come to return the favor…” _

To think that one day, something like that would come true… Maizono always joked about being an esper, but perhaps he would have to take her more seriously now. 

The moth demon wiped his face off and growled. “You…!” Within a blink of the eye, he was lunging for her again, claws out and ready to shred. 

The raven girl seemed unphased. She raised an arm, her wing cape draping down. With a slash of her talons, the demon gasped and fell over, collapsing onto the tile in a pile of blood. It was so fast that Naegi didn’t even get to see what exactly had happened. He looked down towards the fallen demon, the blood puddle increasing by the second. He couldn’t even see where he was injured.

A low sigh filled the room as the raven lowered her arm, allowing it to drop at her side. She looked up and stared at Naegi in the eye, almost unblinkingly. It caused him to fluster ever so slightly, rubbing the back of his head. “Uh… uhmmm…. T...Thank you…” he finally managed to stutter out. He wasn’t exactly sure what else to say. Now, he was feeling quite ashamed. He had been talking to her, after all, not knowing that she was capable of understanding what he was saying. Thank god he hadn’t said anything  _ too  _ embarrassing… 

“No. I believe I should be thinking you,” she objected, stepping towards him. She was wearing what looked similar to sandals on her talon-like feet, which clicked against the floor. He gulped a bit as she approached, nervous. “You are the one who rescued me, after all.”

“Ah… I… I did?” Oh, that’s right. He did. How could he have forgotten? Maybe his nerves were acting up. “W...wait, wasn’t your wing broken? Why were you lying like that?”

The raven girl stopped right in front of him, her eyes still trained on his. “I suppose other demons were not exactly pleased that I have my own agenda. That being said, I’m not certain exactly what happened. However, demons heal exceptionally fast. Speaking of which…” she turned and nodded towards the defeated demon. “We should leave before he wakes up.”

Wait… demons? Did that mean that the girl was… — “R-Right!” he replied.

The two of them hurried out of the hotel and wandered a short ways towards another building. This one appeared to be an abandoned grocery store, with no products lining the extremely barren shelves. A few abandoned carts lay about the floor, indicating that perhaps there had once been someone in the building, but there was no one here now. The raven girl gave the building a brief look around before deciding that it was safe. She leaned herself against a wall next to a shelf and crossed her feathered arms under her chest, glancing directly at Naegi. She seemed to have a habit of staring in his eyes, didn’t she?

“I’m certain you have many questions,” she began. “I’ll answer them to the best of my ability. So go ahead.”

Indeed, he had a lot he wanted to ask her. He shuffled his feet around a bit, feeling a bit of anxiety in his chest. “Um… I guess I should ask for your name first, right? We can’t really talk unless we know each other’s names. I’m Makoto Naegi, but you probably heard all that already,” he introduced, grinning awkwardly and scratching his cheek. “And… I’m sure you heard me talk about how I came here…”

“Yes, I did,” she answered curtly. “My name is… Kyouko Kirigiri. A pleasure…” 

Kyouko Kirigiri. Naegi nodded. “So… Kirigiri-san. You were a bird just now, um… does that mean…” He wasn’t exactly sure  _ what _ he wanted to ask…

“I’m a demon. Is that what you wanted to know?” she asked. Her feathery, pointed ears twitched a little bit. “Demons come in plenty of different forms. Of course, some are stronger than others. The one you encountered was a contract demon. They’re not particularly powerful and aren’t exactly meant to torture souls. I suppose that one was a bit too aggressive.” 

...A demon. He has rescued a demon. He wasn’t exactly sure what to feel. Even though she was a demon… she had helped him, right? But weren’t they supposed to be evil?

It seemed that Kirigiri knew exactly what he was thinking. “...I have no interest in bringing harm to you, so you can stop worrying,” she told him, her tone a bit cold. “I already said that I had my own agenda, didn’t I?”

Ah… she had said that. He relaxed ever so slightly, though he was still perplexed. There was still so much he had to ask her.

“I can tell you’re a bit overwhelmed,” Kirigiri spoke up. Naegi looked up and blinked. Was he really that easy to read? “Then how about I make it easy for you and simply explain things from the top.”

That would be a lot easier. Naegi gave her a small nod.

“Very well. Then…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I didn't really know how to end the chapter and also I fucking suck at chapter titles, so bear with me).
> 
> So I'm absolutely SHIT at describing appearances and I'm even more shit at designing them. For a roleplay, I actually used this design for Kirigiri before. 
> 
> [Here she is!](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/429855106977234956/437110793755033600/BirbLady.png)
> 
> She was actually drawn by my friend Amanda. [Here's a link to her twitter!](https://twitter.com/dangerredpanda) She does a lot of other really awesome art, so be sure to check it out.
> 
> I hope those links worked. Ao3 please.
> 
> I apologize if this chapter is shorter! I hope you enjoyed regardless.


	4. Contract

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if this chapter is lower quality than the last.

“...As you may already know, this is Hell,” Kirigiri started to explain, crossing her feathered arms underneath her chest. “More specifically, this is the first layer of one of the many realms of Hell. Hell, as I have observed, is a complex dimension that changes itself based upon the consciousness and memories of the person within. Sometimes, realms can have numerous souls and demons, but this one seems to be desolate. To many people, Hell looks completely ordinary, perhaps based on a scene in their life. However, it’s all a trick. Hell gets more and more ruthless as you descend through the various layers.”  

There was a lot to take in at once, but Naegi believed he understood what the raven demon was trying to say. “So… it only looks like a city because of me?” he asks, a worryful expression upon his face. What did that mean about him? “But I saw other people in the basement of the office building…!” He had forced himself to recall that sickening sight, causing him to gag a bit and cover his mouth, eyes widened.

It seemed that Kirigiri knew what he was referring to. “As I said, Hell has numerous layers and is designed to look ordinary to deceive and shock whoever is contained within. Perhaps you managed to enter another layer from the office building, where they torture the captive souls.” Her expression didn’t change at all as she switched the topic to one far more dark, and in fact, she looked quite emotionless. “Hell is essentially an afterlife, so it is impossible to die within it. Those who are tortured are beaten over and over to the point of death, only to be healed from their injuries and begin the process once more. Such is the fate of those who end up here.”

Obviously, this sort of future didn’t appeal to the boy. “But I didn’t even do anything!” he protested. “The demon said I made a contract, but I don’t remember ever doing that…!”

Kirigiri held her talon like hand up flat, signaling for him to stop. “...I’m well aware. I heard you before, didnt I?” she reminds him, her voice calm. “I don’t have any explanation as to why you are here. It’s not as though anyone told me. For the most part, demons are left to wander realms of Hell endlessly, seeking to torture humans for their own amusement. Of course, I have no interest in such things in the first place.”

“So… you’re just left to wander around, huh…” Naegi replied, a gloomy expression creeping its way upon his face. A fate like that… it sounded equally as sad as what happened to the humans. “You must be lonely.”

For a moment, Naegi thought he saw a flash of emotion across the demon’s face. She seemed taken aback by the response, but it was only a mere second. “No,” she answered frankly. “Not particularly. There’s much to learn about Hell. Exploring and discovering its many quirks and secrets is most intriguing.”

But Naegi wasn’t willing to take that as an answer. If he had been stuck wandering the realms of Hell with nothing to do but torture others for amusement, he would surely lose his mind. “But you don’t have anyone to talk to,” he points out, still looking sorrowfully sympathetic. “Even though there’s a lot to learn, you don’t have anyone to share your discoveries with, right? Besides, there’ll be a point where you learn all you can, and then what?”

“I’m fine. I already said I had my own agenda, didn’t I?” Kirigiri responded within a split second, sounding just a bit annoyed. “I don’t have time to think much about it.”

The boy could sense this conversation was taking a sour turn, and even if he insisted otherwise, she would still stubbornly say no. Changing the topic was likely the best course of action. “...Kirigiri-san,” he addressed her. “You said you’ve been investigating Hell? Have you found a way out?”

Kirigiri’s pointed, feathered ears twitched. She uncrossed her arms and shifted slightly. One of her hands reached up and tapped her chin lightly with a razor sharp, talon like claw. “The answer is quite complex,” she begins. “There is certainly a way to leave Hell. After all, demons are able to leave Hell and draw souls back down in the first place. The method, however, is a bit hard to determine with absolute certainty.”  The raven demon positioned herself with her back leaning against an empty shelf. “The only demons I have witnessed leaving Hell with ease are ones that are of a much higher rank. They’re able to transport themselves in and out of Hell by creating portals and gateways. However, something like that is completely beyond my power. The other times I’ve seen such an occurrence is when a demon uses the power of a human soul to pass through the barriers.”

Now he was definitely confused. “The power of a human soul?” he repeated. 

“Yes, but human souls don’t appear to be powerful enough to leave on their own. They need to be utilized by demons. That’s how contract demons are able to bring back humans to Hell. When humans sign a contract with a demon, their soul becomes bound to the demon and can be utilized by the demon for whatever purposes they so desire. In a sense, human souls are a source of power for demons. That’s why many seek to create as many contracts as they can,” the demon girl explains. “I believe that the demon who brought you here likely mistook you for someone he had made a contact with.”

Without warning, the girl suddenly began to walk over to him and placed the palm of her hand upon his forehead and closed her eyes. He flinched slightly, a bit surprised by how unusual her hands felt. Her talons were a bit sharp, but didn’t prick his skin. “It isn’t exactly easy to tell, but I don’t sense that your soul is bound to anyone,” Kirigiri decides. “The demon who was after you wasn't particularly powerful… perhaps he wasn’t smart enough to check if he had the right person, either.”

“...W-Well, that might be true, but at the same time… he did say it was Makoto Naegi he was looking for, and um, I don’t really know any other people named Makoto Naegi… not that it isn’t possible,” he stuttered out, a bit nervous, as the demon’s claws were still on his forehead. He felt like somehow, she was prying into his very soul from that simple gesture. He swore he could feel her talons pulling at his very essence, like puppet strings. 

Kirigiri’s hand fell back at her side. “I’m uncertain about that part. You cannot simply just use someone’s name to forge a contract. It’s soul binding. Perhaps that demon was truly just careless,” she theorizes. 

“I don’t get why anyone would sell their soul in the first place,” Naegi muttered, scratching his head a bit. He was feeling a little dizzy after that strange experience, but not enough so that he couldn’t still stand. 

“Contracts can be deceiving,” Kirigiri tells him. “In exchange for a soul or something important to the person, they can have a wish granted. Some people form contracts in order to obtain something, others to grant themselves success… there are plenty of reasons, but it almost always never satisfies the person who made it. Demons never like to give people want they want.”

How cruel, Naegi thought to himself. To give someone the hope of achieving their dream, only to steal something precious and leave them an empty husk of what they wanted in return… demons were truly evil creatures, weren’t they? But, at the same time…

“However, things are now extraordinarily simple for us,” Kirigiri spoke out, interrupting his thoughts. 

“...Huh?” Naegi exclaimed.

“There’s a very easy way to leave Hell,” the raven girl answered. 

...Ah! Naegi felt his heart begin to thump around in his chest. He hadn’t been here too long, but he had seen far enough. “What is it!?” he asked, excitement in his tone. 

“It’s simple. Make a contract with me.”

At first, Naegi said nothing. He allowed silence to fill the empty store, an expression of shock written upon his face. He opened his mouth ever so slightly, searching for words but finding none. A… contract…? But… she had just finished explaining why demonic contracts were always a scam. 

Perhaps it was too easy to tell what he was thinking, since Kirigiri seemed to be able to understand his thoughts immediately. “...It’s true that such a thing is dangerous, but it’s the only way I know of,” she began to explain. She began to walk away from him, pacing back and forth around the room, a finger on her chin. “Simply put, with your soul binded to mine, I would become capable of pulling both of us out of Hell. I admit that I am unsure of the details of what it would mean for our souls to be binded to one another… however, as long as the two of us stick together, I cannot imagine there would be dire consequences.”

“...” Naegi wasn’t exactly sure what to say to the proposal. Wouldn’t it essentially be the same as giving his soul to her? He tensed up at the thought. What if this was just a ruse? What if she was just trying to obtain his soul so she could have power? And… what would she do when she was out of Hell? 

Kirigiri stopped pacing and turned to look at him, her piercing gaze staring daggers into his soul. “...Didn't I already tell you? I have my own agenda. I don’t have any interest in bringing harm to anyone. However, I  _ do _ have reason to leave here. That’s all.”  It was almost as though she could read his thoughts. “I understand that I’m a demon, and making a contract with me sounds dangerous. However… you simply have to trust that I won’t do anything malicious with your contract. I only wish to leave this place and find what I’ve been looking for.”

Still… there was a lot that he didn’t know. Would this be permanent? What other effects would there be? It seemed that even Kirigiri didn’t know anything. By all means, it was a risk. However… to stay here would mean resigning himself for an eternity of torture. He bit his lip as he thought over his situation. Kirigiri… she didn’t seem to be a bad person. She had saved him, after all. If she truly was on the other demon’s side, she would have left him to fend for himself.

Besides… hadn’t he already promised?

_ “Oh, and of course, if I find an exit, I’ll let you leave with me! There’s no reason a bird should be in Hell. It must be really lonely down here without any of your friends… so I’ll set you free!” _

It was a risky choice. All he could do was trust Kirigiri. 

“...All right, Kirigiri-san,” he decided. A determined expression was set upon his face. This was his choice, and he couldn’t second guess it. “I’ll do it. Let’s form a contract.”

“Very well then, Naegi-kun,” the demon replied immediately, her voice as calm as always. She began to walk back over towards him, stopping mere inches in front of him. Her face was awfully close, Naegi thought to himself. He was going slightly red. “Once the contract is made, our souls will be binded together. I understand these circumstances will be limiting for the both of us, but our best interests will have been met.” Once again, Naegi found the girl staring directly at him, sending a chill down his spine. Her gaze was stern, emotionless… it was hard to tell what she was thinking. If this was a trap, he certainly couldn’t tell by looking at her. “Then I’ll ask you again if this is alright with you.”

In response, Naegi gave her a firm nod. He had to trust in her…!

Kirigiri closed her eyes and took a deep breath… and then shot them open again. They were glowing a deep purple, the whites of her eyes and her pupils not visible. A second, smaller set of eyes appeared diagonally above her other two, much like as he had previously witnessed when she was in her raven form. For a moment, his heart seemed to stop in his chest. Had he been tricked? Her cold, talon hand placed itself on his right cheek, stroking it gently. “... It’s been decided. Our souls shall become intertwined.” As she spoke, he noticed her teeth had been replaced by sharp, pointed fangs. 

He started to panic, but forced himself to calm down. This was… probably just what she looked like. He gave her another curt nod, but figured that his anxiety was likely written all over his face. 

“Then, let us seal the contract,” Kirigiri whispered, drawing closer. Naegi shut his eyes, nervousness shaking his very core, forcing his body to tremble uncontrollably. Was this it…? Was this how he was going to die?

Then, he felt a gentle sensation against his lips. His eyes shot wide open, and he found Kirigiri’s face next to his, her lips pressing against him. She was kissing him. She was kissing him…! She was kissing him and he had no idea what to do! Now he was panicking for a completely different reason. Was he supposed to kiss her back? Her hand softly caressed his cheek, the gesture causing his heart to flutter and calm. He focused on the warmth of her breath, the softness of her lips… His hands gripped her shoulders and pulled her just a bit closer. He knew this was just to seal the contract, but… he had never been kissed before. He wanted to enjoy it, just a bit. 

It felt like years before she finally pulled back, her gaze softer than before. Her lips were still so close to his, he could feel her breath on them. Then… he began to feel dizzy. His vision was quickly turning black and foggy, and he was having trouble focusing on her. “K...Kirigiri-san,” he gasped out as his legs wobbled, giving out, causing him to collapse backwards onto the floor.

“I’ll see you on the other side, Naegi-kun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These last two weeks have been pretty disastrous for me. I've had far too many anxiety attacks, more than I can count, and I've been having a lot of pains throughout my body. So I haven't had any time to write at all. I tried to get myself together to write this chapter, and I'm sorry if it isn't as good or long as the last. It's more or less transitioning to the main part of the story.
> 
> I just hope I can pull myself together so I can write more. So please enjoy for now.


	5. Readjustment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terrible chapter title as usual.

Cold.

That was Naegi’s first thought as began to regain his consciousness. The breezy, summer air rushing against his body, the unforgiving stones beneath him pressing into his stomach. He twitched ever so slightly and muttered to himself as his eyes opened, revealing gray stone pavement beneath him. Why was he on the floor? He pressed his palms to the ground and lifted himself up into a sitting position, dazed. He glanced around and quickly identified that he was in an alleyway, perhaps not too far from his university. But why was he here?

“You’re awake, finally,” a familiar, calm, feminine voice greeted him. 

As soon as he heard those words, memories shot through his brain like an electric shock. He gasped out loud and covered his mouth as images of Hell flooded through him. Quickly, he stumbled to his feet and glanced about until he noticed a hooded figure leaning against a building wall… and he immediately relaxed. 

“...Kirigiri-san,” he spoke out, sighing with relief.

The demon girl was pressed against the wall, her feathered arms folded underneath her chest and her starry hood obscuring most of her face. “It’s about time you woke up. I believe I’ve been waiting for about twenty minutes, if I had to guess,” she told him.

“Twenty minutes?!” Naegi’s eyes shot all the way open, fully awake now. “W...Wait… this is…”

Indeed, it appeared they were no longer in Hell. A quick look around confirmed that he was in the same alleyway he had been attacked in. However, there was no sign of blood anywhere. Maybe he hadn’t really died when that demon took him to Hell, then. He scratched his head in confusion and looked around for any other signs of distress, but found none. 

Naegi’s hand slipped into the pocket of his jacket and immediately found his phone. Sliding it out and turning it on, the boy read what was displayed out loud.

“June 27th… June 27th…” he repeated to himself.  “...Erm… wait a moment... w-wasn’t it…!?” A brief panic rushed through him as he frantically searched through his memories. “Wait! The day of the concert was June 20th…. So that means… it’s been a whole week!?”

But it didn’t feel like  he had been in Hell a week. It had been at  _ most _ only a day. Had time really passed that quickly without him noticing?

“Hell is a different dimension,” Kirigiri pointed out, removing herself from the wall and walking towards him. “I would assume that the laws of time are quite different within. It is highly possible that a few hours in Hell could equate to a whole week in the living realm.” As Naegi noticed she usually did when she was deep in thought, she placed her talons on her chin. She glanced down at his phone, staring at it curiously for just a moment longer than it took for her to read the text. “Though I cannot confirm that for certain. There isn’t exactly any way to measure the passage of time in Hell.“

Now that she mentioned it, when he was in Hell, the time on his phone never changed. “It definitely only felt like a few hours… no… I’m  _ certain _ it was only a few hours!” Naegi replied confidently. “B...but if it’s been a week, then…”

Oh god, what about the concert? No… that didn’t matter so much. Had he gone missing for a week? What about his family? Had they been searching for him!?

He quickly unlocked his phone and gulped as he scrolled through the numerous text messages he had received throughout the week. “Oh god…” he spoke to himself. He had hundreds of text messages from his parents, from his sister, from Maizono… almost everyone he had knew had been texting him, asking him where he was and if he was okay. 

A quick Google search confirmed that he was listed as a missing person since about six days ago. Kirigiri stood behind him and stared as he frantically looked through various polite reports surrounding his disappearance. There wasn’t really much the police had said other than that he had gone missing before a concert he was scheduled to show up for, and that they had no leads other than that. 

“What do I do!?” he shouted out, rather visible beads of sweat pouring down his forehead. “How am I supposed to explain this?” Telling his parents he had gone to Hell was absolutely out of the question.

“...I suppose the most simple method would be to tell as much of the truth as possible,” Kirigiri suggested. “You passed out and woke up in an alleyway a week later. Wouldn’t that suffice?”

Well… that certainly  _ could _ work. “I mean, then the police would try to investigate what happened, right? Like… maybe they’d think I got kidnapped,” he pointed out.

“Then let them. It isn’t as though they are going to find a kidnapper who does not exist. Unless they are aware of the existence of demons, they will not be able to figure out that a demon kidnapped you and took you to Hell,” the raven demon spoke, her voice as calm as ever. “Other explanations might lead to contradictions that will cause you trouble.”

...She  _ was _ right. Naegi opened up the messaging app once again and texted both of his parents:

_ “I’m alive. I don’t really know what happened… I just woke up in the middle of an alleyway. I’ll text you with more details later.” _

After pressing send, he pocketed his phone again and sighed. Even though he was out of Hell, it seemed that his troubles were just beginning. 

“...Shall we go, then?” Kirigiri suggested. “Standing around here won’t help.”

...We…? “Erm… you’re coming with me?” he asked. He immediately felt like he sounded stupid when he asked. 

“The two of us made a contract. It’s in our best interest to stick together, now that our souls are intertwined. If that’s a problem, then we may be in a serious predicament,” she reminded him. 

...Ah. He hadn’t thought about that. Naegi was currently living in a small dorm with one bedroom, one bathroom, and a combined kitchen and living room. It wasn’t exactly an ideal living space, but he only was really at his dorm when he was sleeping. He spent most of his time at school or work, and he often liked to go to the park to do studying or other activities. It was technically made for two people to share, but he was currently alone. Therefore, there shouldn’t be too much of a problem...

...Still… living alone with a girl… wasn’t that..--

Naegi suddenly gasped in surprise. How had he forgotten! He turned and looked at Kirigiri, flustered. The two of them had kissed! He stiffened up as he recalled Kirigiri’s soft lips on his, her warm breath against him… He pulled on the collar of his jacket nervously and gulped, glancing into her eyes. Despite the fact that she was a demon… she really was pretty, wasn’t she? 

...Oh, what in the world was he thinking? It was just a formality to seal the contract. She really didn’t mean anything romantic by it. Besides, he had only met her just a few hours ago, it was  _ way  _ too soon to be considering things like that! 

Kirigiri clearly sensed his discomfort, and her ears twitched ever so slightly. “It’s fine. You needn’t worry about my living conditions. I spent plenty of time in Hell in rather… unfavorable places. It is nothing I am not used to.” It was clear from her observant gaze that she noticed how flustered he was, but she chose not to ask about it. Besides… she probably already knew the answer to whatever question she would have about it.

“R...right… um… it shouldn’t be an issue, then,” he stammered out. Why was his heart beating so fast? He shouldn’t be so nervous. Even though this girl stole his first kiss, it wasn’t as though she did it out of feelings she had for him! He continuously scolded himself in his mind.  _ Get it together, Makoto! It was just a formality! Besides, you hardly know her…! _

But try as he might, he couldn’t get the warm feeling of her lips out of his mind. Her touch still lingered, and he had to stop himself from curiously touching his lips. Did she realize the impact of what she had done? Even if she did, it didn’t seem she really cared to dwell on it much.

With a quick swoop of Kirigiri’s claws, she pulled off her arcanic robe and held it by her side, allowing the fabric to drape loosely to the ground. The more he looked at it, the more enchanted Naegi felt by it. It almost looked as though it had been woven with starlight itself. She bundled a part of the robe over right left hand and shoved her other hand in the pocket of her jacket. After closing her eyes, she muttered a few inaudible words to herself. What seemed like stardust materialized around her, enveloping her body with a flash of light, and then fading. All of her raven parts were now gone, and she appeared nothing more than a regular human girl from all angles.

“...This should suffice, correct?” she asked, tilting her head ever so slightly, her hand still shoved in her pocket, her robe wrapped around her other. “I am uncertain what sort of attire is regular in your world.”

“You look fine, I think…?” Looking up and down the girl, he didn’t exactly see anything wrong with her. “Nothing looks strange… I’m not really the best with clothing, though…”

Kirigiri nodded. “Then if there’s no other matters you wish to discuss first, lead me to where you live.”

Without further delay, Naegi slipped out of the alleyway and began to walk down the streets, Kirigiri following him close behind. All the way, he could feel a furious buzzing in his pocket, likely from his parents calling him. He sighed anxiously and tried his best to ignore it, even though it was eating at him. He didn’t have much time to explain right now, and he would have to sit down and go through the process later. Things didn’t appear to have changed much in a week, though the posters for the concert had been taken down by now. Did the demon have to take him to Hell right before his chance to see his best friend live? He lamented his horrid luck all the way to his dorm.

It was about a twenty minute walk from where he had woken up to his dorm. He now stood in front of the large dorm building, looking up. “...Um… I probably just can’t invite some stranger to live with me in my dorm,” Naegi pointed out, looking over his shoulder to the girl behind him. “I’ll be in really big trouble if anyone sees you.”

“It’s fine. I’m quite easy to disguise,” she reassured him. “As long as you have a window, getting in and out of your room should be simple enough.”

With that thought in mind, Naegi circled around the building until he reached the part where he was living. Obviously, he couldn’t tell which window was his from just looking outside, but it shouldn’t be too difficult of a task. “Wait here,” he instructed her before heading into the main hall.

He ascended the stairs until he reached the floor he was on and then unlocked his room. It appeared that since he had left, someone had been inside his dorm. Objects seemed to be out of place, different from where had left them. It wouldn’t be unusual if the police or his parents had come to his dorm to look for him or to gather evidence. Speaking of which, the ringing in his pocket was getting rather anxiety inducing. 

He slipped his phone out of his pocket as he walked over to the window, opening it up wide and poking his head out. The boy looked down and saw Kirigiri still standing there, looking up at him. He waved to her as he pressed answer on the phone, holding it up to his ear.

“ _ Makoto! Where have you been!? Your father and I were so worried about you…” _ his mother’s voice shouted from the other end of the call.

“Um… well you see… It’s, uh…” he stuttered out, searching for the right words. He leaned against the wall and scratched his cheek, unable to come up with a satisfactory explanation. As he began to try to explain to his mother, a giant raven swooped in through the window and perched herself on the windowsill, startling the boy and nearly causing him to drop his phone on the ground in shock. 

“...” Naegi stared at the bird. “...S...so you see, I don’t really know… um… don’t worry though, I woke up with all my money and stuff,” he told his mother, his eye still fixed on Kirigiri. She hopped down from the windowsill and fluttered her wings, changing back into her human form, still with a few raven features, in a storm of black feathers.

“Y...yes…. I’m okay, I wasn’t hurt or anything,” he continued onward, watching all the way as Kirigiri began to inspect every inch of his dorm room. He wanted to step in and object, but he was still caught in the conversation with his mother. The demon girl was extremely meticulous in her investigation, pulling out dishes and pots, opening drawers that she absolutely did not need to open. She didn’t leave an inch of the dorm room unchecked. It was only when she wandered over to the bedroom and began to pull open his clothing drawer that he hurried to stop her. “H-Hold on, I’ll be right back!” he shouted into his phone as he hung up and shoved it back into his pocket, chasing after the demon.

Kirigiri was prodding at his clothing curiously with an outstretched talon, her face completely stoic. Thank god it was only his top drawer with his shirts, he would have died of embarrassment if she had found his underwear. 

“W-Wait! You can’t look there!” he protested, waving his hands about. “Please close that drawer!”

Thankfully, she did so. “It seems you are generally a cleanly person, though the clean dishes were still partially dirty and your clothing isn’t folded just right. Perhaps you need to pay more attention to detail,” she suggested. “However, it also appears that you don’t make much use of this place. I suppose you haven’t had guests before.”

“...” Well, she wasn’t wrong. “W-Well, it’s not like there’s many people who want to come and see a small dorm room... You’re not really supposed to have anyone staying over…”

“Not even friends of yours come and visit your room?” she asks.

Naegi rubbed the back of his head nervously. “Haha…” He didn’t exactly have a bunch of friends that went to the same school as him yet. Sure, there were a handful of people he would hang out with, but it wasn’t as though they were close enough to hang out at each other’s dorms. 

“I suppose that’s for the better,” Kirigiri decided. “Though I cannot help but notice that the bed here is a bunk bed. Does that mean someone used to live with you?”

“Well… back when the year started there was one, but um, he ended up transferring in the middle of the year, so…” It was a bit of an unusual circumstance, but Naegi hadn’t really bothered to think too hard about that. 

“I see.”

Without a second thought, Kirigiri approached the ladder and hoisted herself up into the top bunk bed, plopping herself down. “...It’s quite small,” she remarked, “and the mattress is rather thin. I suppose these dorm rooms aren’t very costly. However, I’m used to sleeping wherever I could, so I don’t particularly mind.”

“W...wait---!” She really was just making herself at home, wasn’t she? He wasn’t even sure why he was protesting. It just felt so strange to have a girl he just met inviting herself into his bedroom and doing whatever she pleased. A girl he had  _ kissed,  _ no less. He gulped. “You’re… you’re going to sleep there?”

“Obviously,” she replied. “I don’t have anywhere else to stay, and there is nowhere else to sleep unless you intend to have me sleeping on top of you.”

_ W...wh.. _ . His face flushed an embarrassing shade of red. Of course she couldn’t do that! There was no room for another person in his bed and having her on top of him would be uncomfortable… unless he meant in her bird form.  _ That’s… probably what she meant… _ “N...no... the top bunk is fine! I-I usually end up rolling out of it, anyway… It’s just that you don’t have any sheets or a pillow or anything like that…”

In fact, she had no belongings whatsoever. That would make things extraordinarily complicated. She had only one set of clothing, no money, and absolutely nothing to her name. He swore he could feel his poor wallet protesting at the thought of how much he would have to spend now that he had someone else living with him that was incapable of getting money herself. She needed food, probably at least two other sets of clothes, and any other miscellaneous items require for a comfortable life. 

...This was infinitely more difficult than he had expected. Selling his soul to be bound to hers was one thing, but this was another. What did demons eat, anyway!?

“I’m fine without them,” Kirigiri dismissed. “However, I’d imagine there’s plenty I still need in order to blend in. To be honest, I’m quite unfamiliar to how the living realm functions these days. I cannot imagine it will take me too long to learn, however.”

That begged numerous questions. “...Wait, Kirigiri-san. You’re a demon, right… so have you ever been here before? Um… to the living realm, that is.”

Kirigiri turned over and eyed him. “Perhaps,” was her extremely vague answer.

Of course, Naegi wasn’t exactly satisfied with that response. It raised more questions than answers, in fact. “Huh?” he replied. “Perhaps?”

“Perhaps I have,” Kirigiri repeated. “But you shouldn’t worry too much. There’s plenty I already know, it’s not as though I stick out. It simply will take time getting used to. That’s all.”

Naegi knew that questioning her further was likely not to yield any answers. In fact, there was very little he actually knew about her, despite having entered a pact with her. He knew her name, that she was a demon, and that she came to the living realm to fulfil some sort of mission… that was all. It almost seemed like she was intentionally hiding things from him. Why?

“...Kirigiri-san,” he spoke up, his voice much more serious than usual. “I don’t really understand a lot about you, but… there’s a lot that I need to know if we want to make things work. I don’t… really know what this whole contract entails, and you’re not really mentioning it, but… There’s a reason you came here, right?” She was now looking at him rather curiously, and her stare was just a bit intimidating. “...You pulled me out of Hell, so it’s only right I help you with what you want, right? So… don’t be afraid to talk to me about things. I want to help you, after all!” The words came from the bottom of his heart. Looking at the raven demon… he almost felt sorry for her. There was a strange sadness about her that he couldn’t quite understand, but he knew he didn’t want it to be that way. Even though she was a demon, Hell must have been horrible for her, too.

“...” Kirigiri didn’t immediately react. She simply stared, her expression blank. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking. “...Very well. When the time comes.” With that answer, she flipped back over on her other side and faced the wall, going completely silent.

It wasn’t a very satisfactory answer, but it was all Naegi had for now. “...Thank you, Kirigiri-san.” 

He couldn’t help but smile a bit. Kirigiri… it seemed that her heart was locked up tightly, and breaking in and understanding the depths of her wouldn’t be easy. But he had to help… he knew he had to,  _ somehow,  _ even if it was the hardest thing he’d ever have to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hopefully this was more satisfactory than the last chapter. I'm still extremely picky about my own ability to write and am constantly questioning myself, but I've just been trying to power through it.
> 
> I'm feeling better than before. I went through a horrible few weeks and am starting to calm down, but I've been having a lot of stomach pains and problems that have been getting in the way of life. Hopefully I can bring myself to write more. Then again... I've already written more in the last month than in all of 2017, probably.
> 
> Thanks for reading up to now!


	6. Shopping

“Am I still in Hell…?”

Naegi mumbled a bit to himself as he lay face first in his bed, his fingers clutching the sheets. He was currently at his parent’s house, lying in the room that used to be his. A thin layer of dust coated most of the objects in his room, indicating that it hadn’t been properly cleaned since the last time he had come to stay. It was approximately three in the afternoon, and most of his day had been horribly busy already. This was his first moments of peace ever since he had woken up. Immediately after waking, he had been called to the police station and questioned for quite awhile about his disappearance. After that, he had been hounded with texts and calls from his parents insisting that he come over, so he had taken the train over and come to visit. After what was probably hours of talking and calming his concerned parents, he was now completely spent.

_ “How long do you intend on staying here?” _

Naegi looked up from his sheets and stared at the pitch black raven sitting on the bed in front of him. 

“...I’ll probably go soon, but… that’s still kinda scary, you know…” he replied to her.

Kirigiri cocked her head to the side.  _ “Telepathy? It is an ideal way to communicate with you, especially given I cannot normally speak in this form. _ ” She shuffled a bit and ruffled her own feathers.  _ “I apologize if it’s a bit strange. I believe it is only you I can talk to, as a result of our bond. I did not previously have this power.” _

Pulling himself up into a sitting position, Naegi looked wearily at the raven demon and scratched his head. It made sense, but still… having someone talk within his brain was a little bit alarming. “I wonder if there’s another effects of the bond, then… you said you weren’t even sure of it yourself, right?”

With a hop and a flutter of wings, Kirigiri perched herself upon his shoulder.   _ “That is correct. There is much I do not know. It is a learning process, but I have not experienced any immediate negative effects. The only issue is that the two of us have to remain near each other.” _

“What would happen if I left, then?” he questioned. Kirigiri had been following him about all day in her raven form, attempting to hide herself on trees and in the sky as he walked around town… though he  _ did _ have to stuff her down his jacket when he was taking the train, since she couldn’t fly as fast as the train. 

_ “...It is not so much a problem with our bond as it is a problem with other demons. Since you are still supposedly in a contract with another demon you claimed you did not make, they may come back for your soul. In that case, you have no way to protect yourself.” _

She was right. In terms of fighting, he was basically helpless. If he had to guess… maybe he had slightly below average strength (though even that was a bit too generous). Kirigiri had already demonstrated her strength when she had defeated the moth demon who had come after him. 

“Still… it is a bit inconvenient. People were giving me weird looks on the train, you know…” he remarked, frowning a bit.

_ “...Having me as a raven then was your choice. You stuffed me into your jacket without a word. There would be nothing strange with having me ride the train as a human,”  _ she pointed out.

...Whoops. He flushed a bit from embarrassment. It wasn’t as though he had to hide her all the time when they were out in public, it was just that he was afraid of what would happen if his parents found out. God knows what they would think if they knew he was sharing his dorm room with a girl. There would be a whole bunch of misconceptions he would have to straighten out. 

Naegi sighed and leaned back against the wall, absentmindedly stroking the raven’s head as he thought to himself. Kirigiri turned her head and stared him right in the eyes wordlessly, her expression unreadable. “...Ah…!” he shoved his hand into his pocket and looked away, even more flustered than before. “I’m sorry…!” He hadn’t even been thinking. He shut his mouth and avoided her gaze, though she said nothing in response. He was really making himself look like some sort of fool today, wasn’t he?

They sat there in silence until the buzzing of Naegi’s phone caught his attention. He slipped his phone out of his jacket and turned it on. It was a text from Maizono. 

“ _ Naegi-kun! I have some free time and I wanted to see you after the whole disappearing stunt! Can you meet me soon?” _

He had exchanged a few texts with her after coming back from Hell just to reassure her that he was, in fact, alive, but this was the first time the two of them would see each other since then. 

“ _ Sure! I can go now, actually. I was planning on doing a bit of shopping, but it’s all right. It can wait. Where do you want to meet me?” _ he texted back.

_ “Oh! I can help, if you need it! Where were you planning to go shopping?” _

Naegi paused for a moment and looked over to the raven on his shoulder, who was peering at the phone, her head tilted to the side. Would Maizono mind if she were to meet Kirigiri? It would be a little hard to explain where the two of them had met, but it wasn’t as though she would be mad. 

_ “Well, truth be told, I actually met someone the other day. She also woke up after disappearing for a week. She doesn’t really have a lot of money, so I was trying to help her out. I was going to take her to a clothing store, but I don’t really know anything about women’s clothes, so…” _

He felt a little anxious as he pressed the send button. He hoped he wasn’t coming off as weird or anything. 

_ “I can help with that! I like to think I’m good with clothing. There’s a good and inexpensive store I know of. Hold on, I’ll email you the location. Meet me there, alright?” _

He breathed out a sigh of relief. Thank god Maizono hadn’t thought ill of him… he wasn't even sure why he had been so nervous. She was a kind and understanding person, after all.

“I guess we should go, then,” Naegi spoke up. He pulled himself off of his bed and stood, stretching out his tired limbs.

_ “Very well. I’ll meet you outside, then.”  _ Kirigiri hopped off of his shoulder and onto the floor, walking over to the open window she had come through previously. She flew up and then fluttered out the window.

The boy sighed, running his hand through his hair. His heart was pounding slightly faster than usual. He wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, especially since the location that Maizono had texted him was obviously a store meant for only women’s fashion. It wasn’t as though he had been to that sort of store before. Convincing himself that he was overthinking it, he walked out the door to his room and went to speak to his parents before he left.

 

* * *

 

A short conversation, a train ride, and a walk later, Naegi and Kirigiri now found themselves outside of the store they were supposed to meet Maizono at. She hadn’t yet arrived, so he simply stood there, glancing around nervously. Kirigiri was now in her fully human form, dressed in the same jacket and skirt as before, her hands shoved in her pockets as she inspected the store front. She really did look exactly like a ordinary human, Naegi thought to himself.

“Naegi-kun!” a voice suddenly cried out, breaking him out of his thoughts and tearing his gaze away from Kirigiri. He swiftly spotted a figure dressed in a hooded blue jacket, eyes concealed by sunglasses. She waved to him as she approached, smiling. 

“Mai –...Erm, hello! It’s been a while!” he greeted. Given how famous and popular Maizono was, she had to conceal her identity to avoid hoards of paparazzi and other fans who would immediately attract unwanted attention. He also had to avoid calling her by name in public, just in case someone picked up on it. Given her status, it would be incredibly bad for her image if someone saw her hanging out with a boy her age in her free time. 

Seeing that the person they had been waiting for arrived, Kirigiri approached the other two and stared at the newcomer curiously. As usual, her expression was completely unreadable, leaving it up to random guessing to determine what she was thinking. 

Maizono’s grin faded away from her face as she glanced towards Kirigiri, staring a bit. Then, as quickly as it left, it came back, the brilliant and alluring smile spreading from ear to ear. “Hello! I’m Sayaka Maizono, but don’t tell anyone that in public, okay?” she whispered. “I’m a famous idol, so I’ll be bombarded by fans if anyone figures it out.”

“...I see,” Kirigiri responded. “My name is Kyouko Kirigiri.”

“It’s good to meet you, Kirigiri-san!” the idol replied cheerfully. She stuck her hand out for Kirigiri to take, but the raven demon did not reciprocate the gesture and simply stared at her outstretched hand. After a few seconds, Maizono slipped her hand away and hid it behind her back, no doubt a bit confused. “So, you and Naegi-kun met just recently?” she asked, trying to move on from the rather awkward moment.

“Yes,” she replied, not bothering to elaborate further. 

Naegi shuffled a bit, feeling the rather tense atmosphere around him. “Erm… Kirigiri-san and I both sort of went missing for a week and woke up not knowing where we were. She doesn’t really remember much at all and doesn’t have money, so, like I said, I wanted to help her out…” It was a really flimsy excuse. Really, he had no way of explaining how the two of them had met, or trying to come up with some sort of story that would be a decent explanation as to why she had no possessions.

The idol gave Naegi a curious look as he tensed up. Some part of him  _ knew  _ Maizono was aware he was lying. She was smart, after all, and had an excellent intuition. “I see. You’re a good guy, Naegi-kun!” she replied.

“Uh… I’m, uh…” Naegi flustered, stuttering out his words. It seemed that Maizono was simply going to go along with his words and not question them.

The idol let out a small laugh. “Really, though, Naegi-kun! You don’t have to be so modest.” 

“A...anyway, um…” Naegi quickly attempted to change the subject, feeling quite humiliated by the current discussion. He glanced over towards Kirigiri, who was simply standing there, staring at Maizono wordlessly. “I don’t really know anything about women’s clothing, so…  I guess you two should go in?” 

“Without you, silly?” Maizono replied, causing the boy to gulp nervously. “That’s no fun! Come on, let’s all go inside! A women’s clothing store is nothing to be afraid of. Besides, Kirigiri-san is going to need your opinion on  outfits!”

“W...what!? Why would she need my–” Naegi didn’t have time to finish his sentence. Maizono had grabbed him by the arm, tugging him into the store with a surprising amount of strength. He had known that idols had to do a ton of training in order to perform dance moves and sing on stage, but he hadn’t expected her to be  _ this  _ strong! As Maizono continued to drag Naegi into the store, Kirigiri followed them close behind, as silent as usual.

The inside of the store wasn’t really what Naegi had expected it to be. It really did just look like an average clothing store, and there wasn’t anything too embarrassing in sight. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away at a wall, hoping that no one would give him funny looks. 

“All right. Kirigiri-san, come with me!” Maizono requested, flashing a grin at the stoic girl. “I’ll show you where everything is and you can pick out a few things. Naegi-kun has to wait here, though.”

He let out a low sigh of relief. It wasn’t as though he didn’t want to come, he was just a bit overwhelmed by the unfamiliar atmosphere. Kirigiri, on the other hand, was eyeing the entire place, scanning it up and down with her inquisitive gaze. It was much like how she had behaved when she had arrived at Naegi’s dorm room. Perhaps she was just a very curious and observant person, the boy thought to himself. She showed no signs of discomfort, however, and simply nodded towards Maizono. 

Maizono took off towards a section of the store, Kirigiri following close behind as she began chatting with her about the various sorts of clothing that the store had. Now alone and feeling rather awkward, the boy pressed his back to the wall and watched from a distance, unable to make out most of their conversation. Maizono was pointing at various outfits, talking quite a bit while Kirigiri silently nodded and occasionally made a remark or two. It didn’t seem to him that she was entirely interested in what she had to say, but she was listening intently regardless. 

“Oh, I didn’t think you would be interested in this sort of thing! Your taste is pretty old fashioned, Kirigiri-san,” Maizono spoke as Kirigiri inspected some sort of purple blouse. “I think we’ve picked out a few good things! Let’s try them on, all right?”

The two of them wandered off towards the changing rooms. Naegi blushed once again, trying to think of anything else other than the obvious. He unlocked his phone and began to fiddle around with it, checking his notes and going over the list of things he still had to do. He hadn’t realized disappearing for a whole week would be  _ this _ inconvenient. There was so many classes he had missed out on, plus his boss was going to have him make up for the time he lost at work. He lost himself in thought as he waited for the two girls.

About twenty minutes later, Kirigiri and Maizono returned, the raven demon clutching a bag of clothing she had bought in her now glove covered hand. “All done! I got her two changes of clothing and some nightwear. You don’t have to worry about making it up to me, all right?” Maizono told him, her usual charming smile on her face. “You’ve already been through a lot. It’s the least I could do!”

Thank goodness… Maizono was truly a life saver. Naegi flashed her a large but sheepish grin. “Thank you, Mai–...Uhh, thank you! But I really have to pay you back somehow. It just doesn’t feel right to accept free things from you,” Naegi replied, fiddling with his hair a bit. 

“Hm…” Maizono tapped her finger to her chin. “All right, I’ll think about how you can, all right? But for now, don’t worry about it.” She turned her gaze  towards Kirigiri, nodding with a reassuring smile. “It was really nice to meet you, Kirigiri-san! Naegi-kun, the three of us should hang out sometime and just talk. We need to catch up!”

Confused, Naegi frowned. “Do you have to go already?” he questioned. From the way she was texting him, it seemed like she had intending on hanging out with him for a lot longer. 

“Well you see, something came up...” the idol admitted. “So I can’t really stick around for much longer. But the two of us definitely have to meet later, okay? There’s a lot that I want to ask you about! Just let me know when you don’t have work or school, okay?”

Of course, the news was quite disappointing to him. Looking at his schedule, there wasn’t exactly much free time. Besides, Maizono herself was usually a very busy person, and being as famous as she was, it wasn’t exactly easy for her to just wander around the streets with a friend carefree. Even though it had only been about two days since he last saw her from his perspective, he still felt like they were somehow distant. 

“I’m going to be really busy the next week, I think… but I’ll be sure to keep an eye out,” Naegi assured her, nodding. “Ah, and… thanks again for your help!”

Maizono flashed him one of her signature idol smiles, one that had captured the hearts of numerous fans all across Japan. His heart momentarially skipped a beat, his cheeks flushing a light shade of pink. It was hard not to react like that to such a beautiful smile. “It’s no problem, Naegi-kun! I’ll see you again soon, okay? Bye!”

With that, the girl waved and hurried out of the store. Watching her go, Naegi wondered if there was something that she was hiding. She sure seemed eager to leave all of a sudden. He shook his head, telling himself not to think too deeply about it. Maizono wasn’t that sort of person, after all.

Kirigiri peered after her as well, blinking, but not speaking a word. She had been extremely silent during the entire encounter, Naegi noticed. Did it have something to do with Maizono, or was it just because she wasn’t a very sociable person? 

“Erm… we should probably get some food before we go back as well,” Naegi suggested. “I don’t really have much money, so I can’t get anything too fancy, but…” Ah. He paused mid sentence. What  _ did _ demons eat, anyway? Back when he was in Hell, he couldn’t find any sort of food, but he didn’t recall being incredibly hungry. “...What do you even eat? I mean, I don’t know how long you were in Hell for,” he whispered, “but surely you had to eat something, right?”

In response, Kirigiri narrowed her eyes and gave him a rather serious look. “...I’ll eat whatever is most convenient,” she answered simply, not bothering to give him a satisfactory response to his question. 

“...” Naegi wasn’t really sure what to make of that. Did demons just eat human food, then? But Kirigiri was technically a bird demon, so did that mean she ate bird food? “Um… if that’s the case, I can go to the pet store and get some bird seed… do… do you eat bird food?” He kept his tone low as he spoke, hoping that no one around them would catch wind of their conversation. Most people looked too busy to care about what he was discussing, anyway.

The only reply he got to that question was a very cold, severe stare from the demon, sending icy chills down his back. That was definitely a no.

 

 

* * *

 

 

After a quick trip to the supermarket, Naegi found himself slowly walking through his dorm hallway, carrying numerous bags all full of instant food, mostly cup ramen. Kirigiri had already flown back into his window, leaving only him to carry the weight of far too many packs of cup ramen. There was no way that eating so much instant ramen could be healthy for him, but he was already behind a week’s paycheck, and he had to feed two people now rather than one. He was sure that in a few days, he would be completely sick of cup ramen, but it hadn’t failed him so far. He had been sure to pick out a variety of flavors to aid him on his quest. 

The boy set his bags down on the floor with a sigh as he reached for his dorm key. He was about to unlock his door when he heard a familiar voice ring out down the hallway.

“Yo, Naegi!” a guy shouted. “That’s sure a lot of shopping you did, huh? Got a girlfriend or something?”

“...Erm… no, Kuwata-kun,” Naegi answered immediately. “I just figured it would be easier to get a lot of food in advance, you know?”

The boy who was now standing right in front of him was Leon Kuwata, a student who had a dorm just a few doors away from his own. Kuwata was once a well known baseball star during high school, and had been scouted out by numerous teams. However, after high school, he had suddenly declared his distaste for the sport and quit, disappointing both his fans and plenty of teams who had set their sites on him. Now, he was apparently pursuing a music degree, despite the fact that the college the both of them were going to wasn’t exactly famous for music programs. Naegi had always theorized that Kuwata probably just wasn’t good enough to get accepted into a real arts school. He was kind of a weird and annoying guy, always trying to capture attention from women. Several times, he had asked Naegi if he had anyone to hook him up with, but the answer was always no.

“Aw, that’s boring,” Kuwata grumbled. “Here I thought you’d finally gone and got yourself a girl.”

Well, Kuwata wasn’t exactly wrong in a sense. He  _ was  _ living with a girl now, but it wasn’t in the romantic sort of way. Of course, he couldn’t explain that he was with a girl because he had bound his soul to her in a demonic contract, so it was best not to mention it at all. “Nope… What about you, Kuwata-kun?” he asked. It was only polite.

The former baseball star froze in place and let out a rather shamed laugh. “Well, you know how it is! Not too many fish in the sea these days,” he joked. “‘Sides, I’ve spent most of my days working on my future career! I can worry about getting chicks after. Then I’ll have way too many to choose from!”

Naegi couldn’t do anything but smile a bit awkwardly at his comment. He was pretty sure that wasn’t how it worked… not that he really knew much about the world of romance. Sure, he had a few crushes in his past, plus he  _ did _ have a bit of a thing for Maizono, but he hadn’t actually gone on a date. Besides, it wasn’t as though a relationship with her was possible, anyway. They might be friends, but she was way out of his league.

Speaking of Maizono… Kuwata had always been a fan of hers. Naegi and Kuwata weren’t incredibly close, but he did consider him a friend, and Naegi had visited his room a few times. God knows what Kuwata would do if he knew Naegi and Maizono were close friends.

“Anyway, I’ll leave you be, ‘kay? But don’t forget to update your buddy here if you get a girl!” Kuwata spoke, flashing him a grin. “I wanna know all the juicy details! Don’t spare any!”

“R-...Right, of course…” Naegi answered back a bit awkwardly. He… definitely wouldn’t give Kuwata all the details, even if he did manage to get a girlfriend. “I’ll see you around.”

Kuwata walked off, giving Naegi a backwards wave as he headed back to his dorm. Once he was out of sight, Naegi unlocked his dorm room and dragged his shopping bags in, sighing. 

“...Another friend of yours?” Kirigiri asked. 

Looking up, Naegi saw that the girl was currently on the top bunk, lying on her side in her half human form. The dorm walls weren’t exactly thick, so it wasn’t unusual that she was able to hear his conversation.  

“I guess he’s a friend? We hang out sometimes,” Naegi answered. “But um… it’s probably for the best that you don’t meet him. He’s kind of…” He trailed off, not exactly sure how to explain.

It didn’t seem that Kirigiri cared much. “That’s fine. It’s best if not too many people know of me regardless,” she replied. “I would like to avoid the possibility of running into hostile demons as much as possible.”

“...I  don’t really think I know any other demons,” Naegi commented as he sat himself down on his bunk. 

“Demons can be rather cleverly disguised,” Kirigiri pointed out. “From simply looking at someone, it can be impossible to distinguish. However, with close observation, it isn’t too difficult for me. I’ll keep my eye out.”

That thought comforted Naegi quite a bit, given that she had spoken of the possibility of demons attempting to hunt him down earlier. At least she would be able to tell when someone might be a threat in advance. Closing his eyes, the boy turned on his side and huddled himself up in some blankets. It was far too earlier for him to sleep, but he was exhausted after all the bustle that today had brought. It felt like he could drift off into a dream at any moment. 

In fact, he almost did. It was the only the sound of a knock upon his door that stopped him.

Naegi stood up hesitantly, giving Kirigiri a glance. “Ah… can you disguise yourself for now? I don’t know who’s here, so…” he asked.

“...Of course.” With the usual storm of black feathers, Kirigiri transformed into her raven form. She hopped down the ladder and sat herself in Naegi’s bed as he stood up, walking over to the door.

When Naegi opened the door, he was greeted by a person he had not seen before. It was a boy around his age looking down at his shoes, with one of his hands on the brim of his baseball cap tilting it downwards to shield his eyes from view. 

“...Makoto Naegi-kun, right?” he asked, still not looking directly at the other boy. 

“...Um... that’s right,” he answered. Naegi had never seen this boy in his life. Was he a student at the college as well? He didn’t recall every telling someone who looked like this his name or where he lived. “Is there something that I can help you with?”

The other boy seemed hesitant. “...I’m actually a detective,” he replied, reaching into the pocket on his chest. From it, he retrieved a card that identified that he worked for a local agency, though it wasn’t one Naegi had ever heard of. “I wanted to speak with you about your disappearance, if that’s all right.”

A detective? He thought he had already spoken to the police thoroughly about the matter of his disappearance. “I guess you can. I already spoke to the police about it this morning, but it couldn’t hurt.”

The detective glanced around the hallway, as if looking to see if anyone else was there. Determining that it was indeed empty, he looked back at Naegi. “Is it alright if I come in?” he asked. “I don’t want anyone to overhear us, so.”

Naegi looked over his shoulder. Kirigiri had buried herself underneath Naegi’s blankets, and currently wasn’t visible. “I don’t really see a problem, but I haven’t really cleaned up in a while, so…” he admitted, scratching his cheek. 

“It’s fine, I don’t really mind,” the boy responded. “It shouldn’t really take that long. There’s just something I have to ask you.”

Truth be told, Naegi wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about the situation, but it wasn’t like this guy was going to harm him or anything. Answering a few questions should only take a moment. Still a bit wary, he held the door open for his guest and allowed him to enter.  He closed the door firmly shut behind the both of them once the two of them were inside, walking over to his bed and taking a seat. He made extra sure to sit carefully, so he didn’t accidentally crush the raven buried within the sea of blankets.

The detective looked around the place, still not making direct eye contact with the other boy. He seemed to be a very nervous sort of person, Naegi thought to himself. It looked like he wasn’t even sure what to say. All was silent for about a very tense minute while the detective timidly glanced all around the room.

“...I apologize if I’m wrong about this,” the boy finally spoke up, changing his gaze direction towards Naegi but still refusing to make eye contact. “But... “ he gulped. “...Did you go to Hell?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the longest chapter I've written for this particular fanfiction. I used to write REALLY ungodly long chapters way back in the day, and I think I reached something near 10,000 words with one of the Hope's Monsters chapters, but this one is around 4,500. 
> 
> I apologize in advance if my characterization for some of the V3 characters isn't spot on, since I only played it once really and I'm not as heavily invested in V3 as I am 1 and 2. (It's not that I didn't like V3, I really did! I just don't feel as emotionally attached to the characters, I guess?)
> 
> Anyway, I hope to have the next chapter out soon. Enjoy.


	7. The Detective

 

Silence. Naegi could feel his entire body tense up, his eyes widening as a lump of what felt like lead formed within his throat. His entire body stood completely still, not even a muscle was twitching. He tried to find the words to respond, but couldn’t. How was he supposed to answer that question?

The boy stared at him, gauging his reaction, but still refused to look him in the eye. “...I knew it…” he spoke out. Naegi’s body language told him all that he needed to know. Perhaps Kirigiri was right when she said he made his emotions far too visible on his face, Naegi thought to himself. “...Then… please answer a few questions that I have. I promise I won’t do anything to hurt you. I’m just here to investigate.”

Of course, Naegi was hesitant. He gazed at the boy in front of him, wondering just how much he knew about Hell. Was he supposed to share anything with him? What if Kirigiri didn’t want him to?

“...Um… I guess I should introduce myself. I’m Shuichi Saihara. On the surface, it says I’m a detective, but I’m more like… a paranormal investigator,” the boy in the baseball hat introduced, slipping his ID out from his pocket once again. “...I’m only a junior investigator, actually. The place I work for, Saihara Detective Agency, is run by my uncle. While on the surface, it specializes in murder, it’s a front for investigating demonic activity and other related crimes.” He briefly looked away, likely debating whether or not he was sharing too much information. “But, ah, we’re not a demon hunting agency. We’re not looking to kill any demons…”

Perhaps he was sharing quite a bit in order to ease Naegi’s doubts. If what he was claiming was true, then he wouldn’t be interested in hurting him or Kirigiri, right? “...All right. I don’t know if I can really help you, but… I can try to answer any questions,” he responded. After all, he had only been in Hell for what felt like a day and a half. Going there left him with more questions than answers.

“...Well, my uncle and I have been investigating disappearances we believed are linked to demonic contracts,” Saihara began. “Well, um, he was until – ... anyway… Usually, at the end of a contract, the person is dragged to Hell and goes missing. We usually end up finding a dead body after a period of time… though sometimes, bodies aren’t found until years later. However, this is the first time someone who’s went missing came back… erm, at least, someone who’s confirmed to definitely have been to Hell… so, of course, I was wondering how you managed to get back.”

How strange… how could it be that he was the only one? “U-um…” he wasn’t exactly sure how to explain. Could he just reveal he had made a soul binding contract to a demon in order to escape? “It’s a bit… complicated…”

Saihara frowned, adjusting his hat so the brim was covering his eyes. “...Naegi-kun, I just need to know… you aren’t a demon, are you?” he asked.

“No!” Naegi answered immediately. “I’m still a human! Why would I be a demon?”

A puzzled look made its way upon Saihara’s face. Perhaps he was realizing that Naegi knew far less than he thought. “You don’t know?” he asked. 

“I… I really don’t know anything,” Naegi replied. “To tell you the truth, I don’t really know why I was in Hell in the first place. I was dragged down as payment for some sort of contract… but I didn’t make one at all, honest!” If this boy was some sort of investigator, then there was a good chance that he would know far more about contracts than what Kirigiri had provided him with. Despite being a demon, she seemed a bit lost on the details as well. “The whole thing really didn’t make any sense at all. I was only there for about a day and a half, and I hardly learned anything… I left with way more questions than answers.”

It seemed that Saihara was beginning to get a grasp on the situation at hand. He seemed a bit bewildered himself. “I… I see…” he spoke up. “I was under the impression that you had knowingly made a contract and returned. I guess the situation is a lot more difficult than I thought…” He sighed, scratching his forehead a bit. It seemed that he had gotten a bit more a mystery than he had bargained for. “Then there’s a lot to look into, after all… Um… I guess it’s best if you start with what you do know, then. Do you at least know how you managed to escape?”

Naegi opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, he was cut off. A flurry of black feathers stormed behind him, and in a split second, Kirigiri was standing behind him. Saihara looked startled and took a step back, almost losing his footing. 

“You’re…!” Saihara shouted.

“...A demon, yes,” Kirigiri finished. She stared directly into Saihara’s eyes, which immediately caused him to pull the brim of his hat over his eyes. “There’s no reason to be alarmed. I haven’t come to the living realm to cause harm.”

Saihara seemed unsure. He looked around the room nervously, swallowing a bit and tugging on the collar of his uniform. “...A-All right,” he decided. “...Then… do you have something to do with how Naegi-kun escaped…?”

Kirigiri nodded her head firmly as Naegi looked over towards her, unsure. Why had she just decided to reveal herself like that? “That is correct. I believe Naegi-kun had been taken to Hell by accident. Given that I have business to tend to outside of Hell and cannot travel to and from the living realm, I formed a contract with him that would allow me to to bring his soul and mine back. I have no intention to bring harm to him or any humans in this realm,” the raven demon explained calmly, not showing even a hint of uncertainty.

The detective boy quickly looked over Kirigiri, perhaps a bit intimidated by her form. In spite of that, however, he did not make any hostile remarks. “I… I see. I know that human souls bring power to demons, and that most have to remain in Hell.” Saihara clearly was lost for words… he shuffled around nervously. “I didn’t realize you could… um… escape by making another contract.”

“I suppose you couldn’t, normally,” Kirigiri spoke up right away. “However, Naegi-kun was not in a contract, that much I am certain of. No other demon had claimed his soul, so I was able to bind his to mine.”

Saihara took a moment to ponder the implications of her words. “I’ve heard that demons can bind their souls to humans, but… usually, contracts involve the demon claiming the human’s soul for their own, rather than intertwining theirs,” he recounted, tapping a finger to his cheek. “That being said… I suppose I can trust you. I know for a fact that you can’t bring harm to Naegi-kun, then, so hurting humans and putting him in danger would be detrimental to your safety.”

Naegi was puzzled, not quite understanding how the two of those connected together. He glanced over to Kirigiri, but her face was stone cold as usual. However, he noticed that her feathered ears were twitching slightly, something that he noticed she did whenever she was a bit uncertain or conflicted. Did that mean she wasn’t aware of what Saihara was referring to, either?”

“Um… what do you mean by that?” Naegi asked, knowing full well that Kirigiri wasn’t going to question him herself. 

“Ah… binding souls is like a vow, in a sense,” Saihara began to explain. “Bound souls can’t be parted from one another… and that includes death, too. If one of the pair dies, the other one will, too. That’s why she–erm… what’s your name?”

“Kyouko Kirigiri,” Kirigiri spoke.

“...Ah, a pleasure to meet you… That’s why Kirigiri-san can’t harm you, or risk harming you,” he finished. “Likewise, it’s in your best interest to making sure no one finds out about her… a lot of demon hunters won’t really care about her intentions.”

An icy chill shot down Naegi’s spine. There was really a lot of consequences that he was just now learning about, he noted. He would have to take extra care of Kirigiri, even though there was really little he could do to protect her. Kirigiri too seemed a bit concerned about this new revelations, her ears twitching and pointing way backwards.  _ Maybe… I should have thought a bit more about this contract thing. But it’s not like there’s was another way…  _ At least, he had the reassurance of knowing that Kirigiri had absolutely no intention of causing him harm, but he had already known that. Despite being a demon, nothing about her made her seem villainous. 

“Um… is it all right if I ask why you wanted to come to the living realm, Kirigiri-san?” Saihara inquired. 

“Do I have to share? If not, then I don’t think I will,” she responded, her tone abrupt.  

The response seemed to be a little startling to Saihara, who wasn’t expecting her response to be so… curt. He shifted ever so slightly, tugging on the brim of his hat awkwardly. “A...all right then,” he stuttered out, his gaze locked to the side, clearly avoiding the demon’s eyes. “Well… anyway… there’s probably some role you want Naegi-kun to fulfill…” He wasn’t really sure what to say, clearly. “...Um…”

Naegi looked between Kirigiri and Saihara, feeling a very oppressive tension between the two. “Was there anything else that you wanted to ask?” Naegi spoke up, trying to ease the atmosphere. It was pretty clear that Saihara was a bit intimidated by the raven demon, though not so much that he felt like he was in any immediate danger. “Like I said before, I don’t really know if I can answer many of your questions… I’m confused myself. I have no idea why I was even sent to Hell in the first place, and now...”

“It’s all right,” Saihara interrupted. “I… I wasn’t expecting such a complicated situation, I guess. But now that I know about it, it’s my job as an investigator to help you look into it.” He glanced over towards Kirigiri, who was still staring at him, but did not meet her gaze. “Kirigiri-san, I need your cooperation as well… so I’ll offer mine. I don’t have any interest in reporting you to hunters or anything, since… well, you’re not here to hurt anyone.”

“Of course. I shall assist in any way I can,” Kirigiri replied. 

Relieved, the investigator smiled slightly. His expression then immediately flickered to surprise. “Oh, I almost forgot…!” He shoved his hand into his pant pocket, retrieving what appeared to be a business card, offering it to Naegi. “Please take this. It has the address of the agency that I work for… I know it’s getting late, so I would like to meet with you tomorrow at my office, if that’s possible. I’m there almost all day, and I don’t really have any other cases to work on, so… just come in whenever you can, all right?”

Naegi took the card, briefly scanning over it. It listed the address as well as the name of the agency, the Saihara Detective Agency. He had mentioned his uncle running it before, so maybe it was some sort of family business? He noted that it was a bit far away, requiring a bit of a train ride to reach. “All right. Thank you, Saihara-kun, for coming and hearing me out. I know my story is a little unbelievable… and I really hope you can help…!” He flashed the boy a grin. At least now, he had another person he could trust, and someone who was an expert on the supernatural. 

“I’ll be leaving now, sorry for um… interrupting your evening. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Saihara said, his tone almost apologetic for some reason and somewhat shaky. He gave them a final nod before going towards the door, shakily putting his hand on the door knob.

“I don’t know what time I’ll be able to be there… but I’ll definitely make sure I get there!” Naegi replied enthusiastically.

With that, Saihara was gone, leaving Naegi and Kirigiri alone once again. After he locked the door, Naegi slumped back down on his bed with a sigh, absolutely exhausted. It seemed that the day was going on for far too long. The raven girl eyed him, but did not move from her spot. 

“...Hey, Kirigiri-san. Why did you jump in like that?” Naegi asked, staring up at the mattress on the top bunk. “I wasn’t really expecting it… since  you’ve been trying to stay secretive and all.”

“I simply felt I had to,” Kirigiri replied, vague as usual. “Besides… I could sense that he was no danger to us.”

Naegi flopped over onto his side, his vision now focused on the wall away from Kirigiri. The revelations that had come from today had extremely dire consequences. Now that he knew that he and Kirigiri’s bond was eternal  _ and _ that they had to protect each other, he wasn’t sure what to do. For one thing, the demon still hadn’t exactly made her motives clear, although he knew that she was good at heart. But how were things to continue if she simply kept being vague, avoiding all of his questions? They were stuck in a contract with no end, their souls bound beyond death. It bothered him how there was still so little he knew about the girl who’s soul he practically shared now. His face flushed a bit as he thought about the implications of their bond, but he forced it out of his mind. He could think about those things later. 

“Kirigiri-san,” he spoke up. When he was sure he had her attention, he shifted back over to face her. “...Please. I know Saihara-kun asked earlier and you  refused to answer, but… what’s your reason for coming here?” he questioned, though his tone remained gentle. “I need to know, since… since this situation is way more complicated than I thought. We’re basically bound together forever, right? But I don’t know anything about you, or why you came here… so please. If you could tell me anything…”

For a brief moment, Kirigiri simply stared at him, causing Naegi’s anxiety to spike up. Was she really not going to answer…? 

With a sigh, the demon brushed a strand of her hair behind her feathered ears. “I truly wish I could tell you about myself. But I can’t,” she responded.

“...What… can’t?” he repeated. “Why not? I mean, I understand if it’s hard for you… but it doesn’t make sense for me not to know if–”

“I said I can’t, not that I wouldn’t,” Kirigiri interrupted. The boy gazed at her, his mouth still partially opened. “The reason I came to this realm… was to find my memories.”

“...Your… Memories…” Naegi paused, trying to figure out the implications of what she was saying.

“I don’t remember who I am,” Kirigiri elaborated. “I don’t know anything about myself, other than my name. I woke up in Hell, wearing these clothes, lying on a street. I had no memory of how I got there. For a long time, I wandered endlessly, seeking answers, but found none. Hell does not hold my memories, that much I am certain. The truth of who I am lies here in the living realm. For that reason… I had to escape no matter what the means. I have to know who I am. I was willing to sacrifice anything and everything.”

Suddenly, everything made sense. She had known so little about the consequences of making a contract, yet she had done so anyway. “I… I had no idea,” he muttered out, looking at his feet. 

“It’s all right. I never told you, so it’s to be expected. I apologize for not mentioning this before. However, I do not simply wish to go around advertising my agenda to everyone, so do not bring it up to Saihara-kun. It’s a path I must follow on my own,” she continued. “If there are dark secrets about who I am, it is something I and only I wish to know.”

“You’ve got that wrong…!” he interjected immediately, standing up and nearly knocking his head on the top bunk. Kirigiri’s ice cold demeanor broke, a second of shock flashing on her face. “You aren’t alone. We made a contract, remember? You pulled me out of Hell, so it’s only right I help you as well. It’s not fair if I just leave you to do it all on your own!” A determined look washed over his face as he stared straight into the demon’s eyes, confident. “I want to help you. I’ll do everything I can in order to find your memories, all right? So… please trust in me.”

Kirigiri stood there, her eyes wider than usual, her feathered ears twitching. She certainly hadn’t been expecting Naegi’s objection. “Naegi-kun… you truly are a kind man,” she finally spoke, sounding far gentler than usual. “Very well. But I’m afraid I have little to go off of. I know for a fact that my memories lie here… because of this.” The demon reached her talons into her pocket, pulling out an old, faded photograph. It was nearly impossible to make out anything there, other than a figure of a young girl and what appeared to be two other, taller people. “I had this on hand when I woke up. When I look at it, it gives me a strange feeling of nostalgia… however, I know little of what it represents, other than what I believe is myself as a child. It’s for that reason that I know… I was once a human.” 

The new revelation caused Naegi’s heart to skip a beat. He felt as though he  had frozen up. He had never once considered it, but looking at Kirigiri… it made sense. “...You were a human…?” he repeated.

“Of course. Many demons were once human. Human souls become demons once they are trapped within Hell… though I am uncertain  why or what causes the change to occur. Like you, I do not know why I was sent to Hell, nor why I became a demon. But the answers most certainly lie somewhere here.” She looked straight at him, her stare as piercing and powerful as ever. “Naegi-kun. Finding my memories is no simple task. It could take years to stumble upon even the faintest of a clue. However… I cannot give up. I must retrieve them. I’m certain you understand.”

Indeed, the small clue that she had gave him barely anything to go off of. “Well, we have to start somewhere. Maybe… maybe the reason you went to Hell is similar to the reason I went to Hell. If we look into it, then maybe we can find something else about you, too!” he suggested, his heart picking up pace as he became more and more certain of this plan. “Kirigiri-san, I know you’re innocent. Surely it was a mistake that you went to Hell, too.”

Kirigiri was rather blindsided by how optimistic his view was on the matter. “...I’m uncertain it’s so simple, but… it’s somewhere to start, at least. Very well. Then we will start by visiting Saihara-kun tomorrow. Be sure to get yourself a good night’s rest.”

With that, the girl climbed up to the top bunk, flopping down on the mattress and turning away from Naegi. It seemed that the conversation was over. Smiling a bit to himself, the boy pulled himself into bed. He had made much more progress, and now, he knew a bit more about Kirigiri. There was still plenty to uncover, but… in his heart, he knew more than anything that the demon was kind hearted and pure. 

With that thought, he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating for NEARLY a month. The truth is, I've been extremely sick and anxious for the last three weeks. My life has been incredibly up and down, and I barely found the motivation to write. I've written a few paragraphs every few days, it was all I could manage, but pulled through a lot the last hour. I hope to get back to updating regularly but my health issues are very hard to deal with. Again, I'm really sorry and hope to have the next chapter up sooner than it took to write this.


	8. Hellflame

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while.

A searing pain burst through Naegi’s spine, forcing his eyes wide open. His mouth let out large gasp as he was immediately met by unfamiliar surroundings: a city that he had only seen long ago, recreated in oil and paint upon the walls of museums. It was undoubtedly Japan, but not as he had left it. Rather, it resembled that of an olden Japan, perhaps about a century back judging by the buildings. It wasn’t as though Naegi was too familiar with the history of architecture in Japan, so an educated guess was all that he could make.

Wide eyed, the boy looked around, realizing that he had woken standing upon his two feet. His slack-jawed mouth was immediately met with a suffocating cloud of smoke, forcing him to cough and slam a hand upon his lips. He collapsed to his knees, feeling broken pavement carve their way into his flesh as he continued to cough violently. 

_ S...Smoke?!?  _ His eyes shot up as he was immediately met with a wall of flame, raging towards him like a hungry tiger, intent on gobbling up its prey. With it, the storm of fire was consuming every building that was unfortunate enough to be in its path, leaving behind nothing but a carcass of what the city used to be.

His instincts were screaming at him, telling him to stand upon his feet and take off in the other direction, but his stubborn body wouldn’t obey. Instead, his eyes lay locked upon the destruction, nothing but the sound of roaring flames to reassure him that he was still even alive. There was not a cry, not a scream, not a demand for help coming from the clearly populous city consumed by flame.

He stood once more, but found his feet trudging towards the ruined town. It was only then that he realized he was completely barefoot, his small feet covered from toe to heel in torn flesh and peeling skin.  _ These aren’t my feet. _

His body gasped for air as the smoke grew dense, but he did not stop, not until he saw something poking out of the flames: a charred, barren skeletal hand, flesh seared off completely. He knelt down beside it, small hands reaching out to grip the remains. A torn up finger ran its way down the skeleton’s hand to its arm, seeking a sign of anything,  _ anything. _

But there was nothing. Of course there was nothing. The victim had been burnt far too badly, making it impossible to deduce anything. Gritting his teeth, he looked around for another sign, only to turn around and notice that he was completely surrounded.

Corpses. Corpses were everywhere, scattered throughout the city. Some lay on the street, some hung halfway out a window, some could be seen within their burning houses, all burnt down to the bone. Who were these people? There was no way to tell one apart from another, not from here. They all looked near identical. And not  _ one  _ sign of anyone living, not anyone but him.

_ Is this…? Hell?  _

It must be. There was no way this was reality. For one thing, this was not a city that still existed today. But how had he been dragged down back here? Where was Kirigiri!? 

He gasped as he felt a tug on his wrist, whipping around to realize the skeleton hand was wrapping itself around his hand. He reacted quickly, attempting to pull his hand away, but was met by the skeleton’s painful grip. He could have sworn his own bones were breaking. 

“Don’t you understand?” A voice echoed out. “There is nothing you can do. Eventually, this world will end in suffering. Everyone has abandoned you.” 

He opened his mouth to protest, but no words came out. All he could do was helplessly attempt to pull his wrist back.

“It’s time for you to join us. You have no more home, no more family, no one to join but  _ us.”  _ The skeleton tugged him forward, pulling him close to the flames. He could feel tendrils of fire dancing across his face as he gazed downwards at his hand. Just like his feet, it was covered in scabs and peeling flesh, yet, there was no blood. It wasn’t just his hands and feet… it was his entire body. His flesh was falling off.

_ Wait… this can’t be… this isn’t me…!  _

A gust of wind slashed through the city, forcing him to shut his eyes as painful smoke blinded his vision. He couldn’t do anything now, he was completely helpless. He couldn’t save these charred bodies, he didn’t even know who they were. They were beyond recognition now. All he could do was brace himself as the skeleton pulled him into the flames. 

He screamed as the fire burnt away his humanity.

 

* * *

 

 

 

_ “...ake… Wake up… Naegi-kun…” _

With those gentle words, Naegi began to stir from his dreams. Still in a hazy state, the boy rubbed his head and yawned. “Mmm… good morn–AHHHH????”

Naegi found himself staring face to face with a giant raven sitting on his chest, staring him right in the eye. He sat up swiftly, nearly ramming his head into the top bunk. “K...Kirigiri-san!?!” he shouted. 

“... _ Good morning, Naegi-kun,” _ the raven greeted him, her words echoing within his mind. It quite hurt to be spoken to telepathically at this early hour, especially when he had just woken up from…

“Kirigiri-san,” Naegi sighed out, relief washing over him when he realized that he was still safe in the living realm. He pulled himself up, rubbing his eyes as his head continued to throb. That dream… no, that nightmare had done a number on him, and for some reason, he could remember it better than any other nightmare he had ever had. His hands and feet itched, as though he could still feel his flesh peeling off, the flames still scorching him and peeling him away. 

The bird hopped off of him and to the ground, raising her wings up as a storm of black feathers overtook her, morphing her back into completely human form. “It’s quite late to be waking up,” she told him. “We were supposed to meet with Saihara-kun around this time, do you remember?”

_ Ah! _ The boy quickly scrambled to his feet, knocking his head onto the top bunk with a loud  _ thunk _ in his panic. He winced and grabbed his head as more pain shot through his skull, feeling horribly disorientated. It barely felt as though he could stand.

“Are you all right?” the demon asked him. It was quite easy to observe that he wasn’t himself, even when he had just woken. “You seem quite distracted, Naegi-kun.”

_ Yeah, I had a dream I was in Hell again and I died.  _ “N...No! I mean, yes! I’m fine. I just have to wake up and get dressed, you know? So uh… it’s probably… best if you looked away!” 

Kirigiri stared at him in a way that indicated she knew he was hiding something from her, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. Was she upset with him? “Fine,” she huffed, turning away from him. It was rather hard to read her emotions, sometimes, but it was pretty obvious that she was a bit annoyed with him. Somehow, he didn’t think that this was going to be the end of this particular issue. She ascended the ladder to her bunk and turned herself towards the wall, giving him the privacy he needed.

As the boy began to pull on his clothing, he wondered whether or not he should have just up and told her the truth. The two of them were bonded together, eternally, their souls locked in a forever vow. He couldn’t help but blush just a bit when he pondered the implications of such a thing. Saihara had said that the contract was unbreakable, and would last even after death. When he passed on and moved onto the afterlife, she would follow him. In a way, he thought, it was like the two of them were married… except “till death do us part” wasn’t exactly a part of it. They had even sealed their contract with a  _ kiss.  _ Really, the only thing that was missing was the ring. 

But… all that aside, It was like he had said before, hiding things from each other would only cause a rift between them. If he was to spend the rest of eternity with this woman, then they needed to understand each other.  Once he had his clothing on, he turned over towards her. “Actually, Kirigiri-san…”

“You’re ready? Good.” The demon didn’t exactly let him finish his train of thought before hopping down from the top bunk. “Let’s get going.”

The words remained caught in the boy’s throat. It seemed that Kirigiri wasn’t interested in hearing what he had to say anymore, though it was really hard to tell if that was really the case or if she was just angry at him.  Her ability to cloud every emotion she was feeling with a completely blank expression made things quite a bit difficult. He didn’t even know what her thoughts were on this eternal vow they had found themselves in, it wasn’t as though she had any idea the contract was completely permanent when she had made it. Did she regret it?

“Yeah,” were the only words that came out as he forced a smile upon his face. Despite everything, there was still so much he couldn’t say to her.

 

* * *

 

 

**** Unfortunately, when the two of them arrived after traversing a few train stations, all they were greeted with was a small empty office. Though the place remained unlocked, there was not a single living soul within the cluttered building, which was crammed up with various bookshelves. There was a small reception desk at the front, with papers still scattered on the table. It was as though whoever was working there had left in quite a hurry. 

“Huh? That’s weird,” Naegi remarked, scratching his head. The open sign on the front indicated that there  _ were _ supposed to be people here. 

“Perhaps there was an emergency,” Kirigiri suggested. “Regardless, they were too busy to even lock the place up, or perhaps they left so quickly that they had forgotten.” 

That was a little bit concerning, Naegi thought to himself. Was there some sort of danger? Was Saihara hurt? Worry danced around within him, tickling his stomach and causing a lump to form within his throat.  “Maybe we should get going, then,” he told her.

But the girl had already moved from her position beside him. She had instead plopped herself down at the reception desk, her gloved fingers rummaging through various sheets of paper as she scanned over whatever documents were there. Her work was swift and thorough, she did not leave a single paper untouched, not a single drawer unopened as she poked through absolutely everything it had to offer. 

“W...Wait!” Naegi protested. “Hold on, Kirigiri-san! You can’t just…!”

“...There’s not too much the reception desk has to offer,” Kirigiri spoke up, cutting his thoughts off. “Most of these papers are inquiries about the services offered here, as well as a few closed cases dealing with minor demon disruptions.” She stood up from the comfy wheeled chair, but instead of leaving, walked over towards the door to an office labeled  _ SHUUICHI SAIHARA.  _ She wasted no time, tugging on the handle and opening it, finding that it too was unlocked. “I suspect that Saihara-kun’s office should tell us a bit more.”

Naegi was at a loss for words. Kirigiri had absolutely no cares about the privacy of the detectives working here, instead simply diving right in and scanning through their information. Wasn’t this illegal? “Kirigiri-san, are you  _ sure  _ we should be doing this?”

“We came here to obtain information. It’s fine,” Kirigiri insisted, holding the door open for Naegi to follow her. 

He hesitated, but decided to follow her in. It wasn’t as though he could do anything to stop the curious raven from poking around the place, though his own morals prevented him from doing too much but standing there. It just felt wrong to be breaking in and going through top secret documents, even though Saihara technically  _ had _ left the door open for them. 

Saihara’s office was a bit more well organized than the front. Though it wasn’t exactly a big office by any means, he kept his desk in order and his bookshelves arranged properly. For a modern day office, the entire building was quite old fashioned. The walls were paneled with darkened wood, and the place carpeted with a rather old dark green rug, which had clearly seen a bit of wear and tear. Even the computer that Saihara had upon his desk was an incredibly old model. It didn’t seem as though this place got too many visitors, probably because most people would go directly to the police for their huge issues, and the organization  _ was _ a front for investigating supernatural activity rather than human crime. 

Kirigiri shuffled through various papers on the desk, not saying a single word. She was incredibly meticulous in her work, as though she had done this a hundred times before. It made Naegi wonder what sort of a person Kirigiri was before she was turned into a demon. She had lost her memories, it wasn’t as though she knew either. 

“Naegi-kun,” the demon finally spoke up, shoving a piece of paper towards him. “Read this. It might help you understand demons a bit better.”

Taking the document in his hands, Naegi noted the title was simply  _ ABOUT DEMONS.  _ It was true that he didn’t know too much other than what he had seen, despite the fact that he was bound to one. It wasn’t as though this was information personal to Saihara, so he supposed it wouldn’t be too bad to read it…

“ _ Demons are creatures forged in the depths of Hell. Though some demons were spawned in the underworld, most demons come from corrupted souls of humans. A human soul cannot remain in Hell for long, for the horrors within will soon taint them and twist them into a demon.  Every demon takes the form of their inner soul. Whether that be an animal, an element, or even an object, a demon’s appearance reflects what is within. Likewise, their version of Hell will reflect their deepest fears and sins.  _

_ They are powered by the souls of humans. For that reason, many demons seek to make contracts with human beings in exchange for a part of them that they can consume for power. Contacts are unbreakable, though types of them vary. It is not only their soul that humans can sell to demons, but occasionally, happiness or sacrificing others for their darkest desires. Most demons cannot leave Hell without the power of a human soul, or by permission. Despite the fact that being turned into demons corrupts the soul, there is indication that some are able to cling onto who they were when they were human.  _

_ Demons are able to take on a completely human appearance. There are several different forms some demons are able to take, but their true forms are known to reflect their inner beings. Most of them look horribly inhuman, but they have the most strength within these forms. Some are even capable of casting magic. Because of this, any and all demons should be treated as threats…” _

Naegi blinked. He had known some of the information, but it was plenty more that he had been curious about. Glancing to Kirigiri, he wondered if she had suffered through inescapable horrors within Hell. She had said she was human before, after all. What had corrupted her, what had twisted her so terribly that she became what she was? It was more than likely that she couldn’t even remember. 

In his heart, he knew she was good.  _ Despite the fact that being turned into demons corrupts the soul, there is indication that some are able to cling onto who they were when they were human.  _ Kirigiri was certainly one of those, there was not a doubt in his mind. He did not sense evil within her. It was strange, but he knew he could trust her. Perhaps it was because their souls were bound, but he couldn’t see her being a corrupt monster. Still, a part of him wondered. He had seen her plenty of times as a raven, as a human, and as a human combined with a raven, but was there a form of hers he had yet to see? This document had spoken of true forms that reflected the inner soul, but he didn’t think the raven was that. When she had first attacked the moth demon in Hell, she had gained an extra set of eyes, hadn’t she? Was that a peek into just what she looked like?

“...Naegi-kun.” Kirigiri’s voice once again interrupted him. She pushed a piece of paper forward with her flattened hand, giving him a serious look. “There wasn’t too much I found. It seems Saihara-kun was honest before. Though he is simply an investigator, he is not a hunter. However, I found messages between him and a hunter that he works with. They’ve been focused on hunting down a creature who has caused the deaths of many others… including other demons.”

A demon who hunted other demons? Naegi took the document. 

“ _ Yo, Shuuichi! _

_ So that werewolf showed up again the other night after it killed a demon I was after. I wasn’t able to get it, but I managed to capture a photo. It’s a real slippery one! As you can see, I wasn’t lying when I said it was a damn werewolf! It’s patterns are completely unpredictable, but I guess we should keep a close eye on it when dealing with other cases.  _

_ By the way, you did really good catching that ant demon from before! I gotta hand it to ‘ya, sidekick. You don’t gotta be so hard on yourself, okay? I believe in you! Also, about that demon that’s been haunting you. You don’t gotta worry too hard about the threats and stuff it’s been leaving, I’ve left a lot of stuff under the desk for you to protect yourself. I know you don’t like fighting, but it’s better safe than sorry, huh? Anyway! I’ll talk to you as soon as possible. _

_ \--Kaito Momota.” _

At the bottom of the document was exactly what had been described: an actual werewolf. The creature stood on two legs and was covered in immense amounts of brown fur, had long, pointy teeth and deep red eyes that seemed to glow. It was dark, so it was a little hard to make out, but the moon in the background lit up the creature a bit. But it was  _ definitely  _ a werewolf. 

“A… A werewolf!?” Naegi shouted out. “I had no idea those things were real! Does that mean things like vampires are real, too?” His head was spinning… all those books about supernatural creatures… was it possible those weren’t fiction, but fact?

“Not quite,” Kirigiri told him, taking the sheet back from his hands. “It’s a demon who is shaped like a wolf. In the document I gave you before, it explained demons have true forms. Werewolves and vampires don’t exist.”

He felt himself relax ever so slightly, but then tensed up again as he realized the implications. Demons could be absolutely  _ anything _ , huh? 

“Regardless, I’m certain Saihara-kun sought our cooperation to help deal with this creature… and the demon that’s supposedly been haunting him. I couldn’t find any of the weapons that this hunter friend of his gave him in the room, so I suppose he already got rid of them. At least we know he won’t hurt us… directly.” Kirigiri stood up from the desk, stretching herself out. “I believe I’ve checked everything. Shall we go?”

Naegi was in a state of confusion. He had learned so much that his brain could barely process everything individually. “Wait!!! There’s… a werewolf demon and a demon who’s been threatening Saihara-kun? That’s a lot to be worried about…” He had no idea which one he should be more concerned about. Since he had come into contact with Saihara and he had learned of his secret, there was no way that this wasn’t his problem now. “Shouldn’t we be doing something about it?”

“...I don’t believe there’s anything we  _ can _ do right now,” Kirigiri told him firmly. “Next time we meet, I will speak to him about it. Properly.” 

Kirigiri… was certainly interesting, Naegi thought to himself. All he could really do was nod and agree with him, and then follow her out of the room and the building. Her work here was done. 

They were greeted by a small gust of wind… and a loss for what to do next. Naegi had come all this way to talk to Saihara, but in the end he wasn’t even there. “...I wonder what we should do now. Going home already seems like a waste.”

The raven girl glanced towards him. “Then what do you suggest we do?”

“...There’s a coffee place I like nearby. Do you like coffee, Kirigiri-san?” It sounded like a nice opportunity to spend some time with his new friend. “Maizono-san lives around here. I could call her and see if she would want to join us.” He had to think of some way to repay the idol for her kindness in buying those clothing for Kirigiri. Although he was sure that simply buying her a cup of coffee and maybe a pastry wasn’t on par with what she had done, it was a start. Besides, now that he was in a position where he would be around Kirigiri for the rest of forever, it would be a good idea to get her acquainted with his friends. ...Eventually he would have to tell his parents too, but that would come another time.

“I don’t remember, but I don’t suppose why not.” It had probably been years since Kirigiri had eaten most things. She had said previously that she had eaten whatever was most convenient in Hell, which raised some very concerning questions, but it was no time to try to bring that topic up again. 

“Great!” the boy replied enthusiastically. “I don’t know if Maizono-san is available, but I’ll give her a call.” 

Naegi pulled his smartphone out of his hoodie pocket and scrolled through his contacts. All the while, Kirigiri was peering over his shoulder curiously, though not saying a single word. He pressed on Maizono’s name and began to ring her number, but was met with the sound of the phone buzzing.

_ “Hello! You’ve reached Sayaka Maizono. Please leave a message and I’ll reply as soon as I’m not busy! Thank you!” _

Ah, well, that wasn’t too much of a surprise. “Hey, it’s me, Makoto. Kirigiri-san and I are getting some coffee nearby and were wondering if you wanted to join us? We might be staying in town for a bit, so let us know. Thank you!” he spoke into the phone. It was a long shot since the idol was always so busy with one thing or another, but it would be nice to see his friend again. He definitely considered Maizono the friendly he was closest too. Sure, there were a few acquaintances and friends here and there at college and high school, but none had stuck with him as long as Maizono. A blush crept upon his face.  _ Ah, what am I doing? I can’t be thinking this way about her!  _ It felt sort of wrong now that he had Kirigiri, but it wasn’t as though Kirigiri was his girlfriend or anything. They were just… eternally bonded in what was basically a wedding vow. 

_ Anyways!  _ “Let’s get going and see if she’ll join us later, all right?” Naegi told the girl, who simply nodded in response. Coffee… he could use some of that right now.

 

* * *

 

The place that Naegi visited around here was a quaint little place. It wasn’t a big chain or anything, but it sold very nice coffee and some delicious pastries that he enjoyed. The place was pretty standard looking, with a tiled floor and giant glass windows giving a bright view of the crowd walking past. There were a few plants here and there and an older TV hung up on the ceiling that usually played the news for people who had just woken, but Naegi liked it all the same.

He ordered himself two coffees. He didn’t think Kirigiri had a preference, so he just got her exactly what he had gotten himself. The demon had already taken a seat adjacent to the window, her eyes focused on the people walking by, though occasionally she gave glances to the television. The boy brought the drinks over and took the seat across from him and the small table, pushing the drink towards her.

Kirigiri stared at it for a bit before taking a tentative sip. Though it was hard to tell from her usual blank face, Naegi could have sworn her eyes lit up for just a moment. “...It’s good,” she decided, taking another sip.

“I’m not usually a huge coffee person,” Naegi spoke as he swirled his straw around, watching the white milk blend. “But it’s nice to come here with someone and have some and just… talk, I guess.”

“It’s quite enjoyable here,” Kirigiri agreed. 

Silence fell between the two of them as they enjoyed their drinks in peace. There was so much Naegi wanted to say to her, but it wasn’t exactly ideal in a public location. Talking about demons and Hell would definitely give them some unwanted attention, especially in a place that was this quiet. There were a few other customers enjoying their morning drinks, but it was mostly people writing on their laptops or doing school work. In a way, sitting here in silence was just as fine. There was something adorable about watching Kirigiri take sips of her coffee, enjoying her drink. She looked rather calm and pleased, certainly more so than usual. After being in a place as terrible as Hell… this room must feel like Heaven.

A buzz from his pocket distracted him from her. Was Maizono calling him back?

“ _ Hey, Makoto? Are you okay? I just heard the news :(.” _

It was a text from his sister, Komaru. “Huh?” he muttered to himself. Was he okay? Of course he was okay, and what news was she talking about?

_ “Yeah? I’m fine? I don’t know what you’re” _

“Naegi-kun,” Kirigiri addressed him. She was staring at the television. Was something wrong with the…?

The news was on. An anchor with a solemn look on his face sat at his desk, his hands folded together.  _ “It has been confirmed that popular idol Sayaka Maizono was found dead in her apartment this morning,”  _ the news anchor spoke. “ _ Little information has been release thus far, but authorities are suspecting it…” _

His heart froze.

“Wh...what?” he whispered, his eyes widened. Maizono… Maizono was… 

_ “...We do not yet know who the main suspect is or if there is one already. Sayaka Maizono was incredibly loved by her fans and was known for…” _

He could barely process the words right now. His whole body had gone cold, and he felt as though he couldn’t move. He was stuck in his seat, his mouth gaped wide open, his vision going dizzy…

“Maizono-san is… dead…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP.
> 
> Sorry for never updating, I don't know when I will again but I managed to write this out at least, right? Let me know if anyone is still reading and what you thought of this update.
> 
> By the way, there's one other thing I want to note. For other pairings in this series, I'll mostly be doing whatever I like, so expect a few other ships to be popping up here and there. Sorry if I can't do everything people want, but I'll try my best.


End file.
